Wilson knocks out Hopoate

Aussie heavyweight Colin Wilson livened up a dull undercard on the big fight night in Hamilton when he knocked out league bad boy John Hopoate on Saturday.

Wilson produced a flurry of eighth unanswered punches one minute into the fourth round with a straight left finally flooring Hopoate.

He had been knocked down by a similar punch in the third round.

Hopoate had started strongly with a good right sending Wilson to the floor.

But the former Aussie champ was too strong and the loss must put a big question mark over Hopoate's future in the fight game.

It was the former Sea Eagle's fourth loss in 16 fights.

One of the most promising fights was cut short when light-heavweight Soulan Powncby clashed heads with Shane Chapman and the resulting cut to Chapman's left eye forced a third round technical draw.

In the opening bout of the night Kiwi lightweight knocked down Australian Frank Lo Porto twice in the first round and took the six round fight on a unanimous decision.

Ghana's Mayoyo Mensah was too busy for American cruiserweight Max Alexander to claim a unanimous decision.

Australian cruiserweight champion Daniel Ammann was clearly too good for New Zealand's Lawrence Tauasa over their six rounds for a unanimous decision.

- © Fairfax NZ News