AUSTRALIAN boxing has a new ‘KO King’ of the lighter weights after Rocky Ogden ended a week of controversy by finishing his arch rival in one round and leaving him “f***ing devastated”.
Rival featherweights Ogden and Mark Schleibs ignited Tim Tszyu fight week on the Gold Coast after an initial hotel elevator run in was followed up by the pair almost coming to blows at the open workouts and then clashing heads at the weigh ins.
Despite all the talk however, it was the undefeated Ogden who took just a round to do exactly as he had promised right throughout the build up – dropping Schleibs on three separate occasions with big right hands before the fight to be waved off.
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Afterwards, a respectful Schleibs found his opponent backstage and congratulated him on the win, with the pair also hugging away from the cameras.
However the Melbourne fighter told Fox Sports Australia soon after that, after all the talk, and having come up two divisions to take chase greatness, it was “a bitter pill to swallow”
“F … ing devastated,” he conceded in his dressing room.
“I tried to be great today but it just didn’t work out for me.
“And I’m not a good loser so this is a bitter pill to swallow.
“Especially being stopped in the first round, that’s never happened to me before.
“So respect to Rocky.
“I’ve come up in weight before and that has never happened.
“He caught me with a good shot, right place.
“He’s got a good right hand and it caught me on the temple.
“He’s got good power.
“I know there was a lot of back and forth this week, but he earned my respect and I’m sure he earned Australia’s respect with that performance.”
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Ogden, who has previously fought in One Championship as a Muay Thai fighter, said he now wants to make his mark in Aussie boxing, where he has already won two national titles.
Asked about the build up, he said: “It’s been stressful but I knew if I could touch him, I have the ability to put anyone down with my power.
“I just had to find him.
“And he was slick, stayed up, was durable.
“But my shots came through and got him down in the end.
“As soon as I touched him with the first one, I knew.”
Ogden added that it was important for him to stay respectful in victory.
“Initially, I thought I would be angry and rude,” he said.
“But I care for everyone if I hurt them. So I just said ‘hey, we put a good show on this week’.
“And did what I said I was going to do. So I didn’t need to talk any more s…”.
On Thursday, security for promoters No Limit were forced to rush a makeshift ring set up inside the Gold Coast’s Pacific Fair on Thursday to separate the warring featherweights during an open workout.
At one point, the pair even came within inches of one another, shouting and threatening to punch on as security rushed in, with Ogden admitting afterwards “I wanted to crack him in the head right there”.
Schleibs, meanwhile, also stated he would amp things up at Friday’s press conference slated for the same venue, saying: “It’s about to get more f … ing spicy, trust me”.
But in the end, the week belonged to Ogden who takes his undefeated run to six fights.
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