Tom Bellchambers has knocked Cam Mooney out to win an enthralling boxing bout that lived up to its billing.
The former AFL big men were pitted against each other in the ring despite a huge weight and age discrepancy between the two.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Tom Bellchambers lands killer blow on Cam Mooney to win ex-AFL champs’ boxing bout.
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Bellchambers, the former Essendon ruck, had a significant weight and age advantage over Mooney, who kicked 297 goals across 221 games for Geelong.
Mooney gave his much bigger and younger opponent a run for his money in an entertaining bout, but was floored early in the piece when he took a hit and was left off balance.
He recovered to land a couple of impressive blows on the former Bombers enforcer but, with 37 seconds remaining in the third and final round, collapsed to the ground and lost by knockout after Bellchambers connected with a big right.
“Lights out. That’s boxing,” Billy Dib said of the hit during commentary.
A battered Mooney was checked by doctors after the fight was called, but he still embraced Bellchambers before the result was announced.
Bellchambers said it was everything he had hoped for.
“It was as fun as I thought it was going to be to be honest with you,” he said after the fight.
“It was a bit of a whirlwind; he caught me with a couple of good ones just before I got him there.
“But that was amazing, mate. That was everything I thought it was going to be and more.”
The entertaining fight was received well by the crowd on the night, but has been the subject of some furious backlash in the aftermath, given the pair’s lack of experience and the developing research surrounding concussion in sport at the moment.
“Ridiculously dangerous that these two in untrained ‘boxers’ are fighting to this degree … and with no helmets. Disaster waiting to happen. Almost was and for what reason? Mooney is 43 and Bellchambers 33 (and weighed in 24kg heavier),” one critic wrote on Twitter.
Another added: “Cam Mooney is 43. A 43yo brain just got the s*** smashed out of it. King-hit it used to be colloquially called before it rightly got changed to coward’s punch* due to the trauma & actual deaths it caused out of the ring. Idiocy.
“I’m obviously not saying there was anything cowardly with Tom Bellchambers in an agreed fight, but this is idiocy that it happened.”
Elsewhere on the night, Nikita Tszyu showed off his boxing pedigree by extending his unbeaten run with a crushing first-round victory over Benjamin Bommber.
Squaring off as the co-main event at Melbourne’s Margaret Court Arena on Wednesday night, Tszyu landed a big uppercut and then finished the young Victorian with a flurry of punches.
The referee tried to intervene with Bommber landing on the canvas on top of him.
Tszyu is the son of former great Kostya, and younger brother of Tim, who was ringside and looked as excited as his sibling by the dominant victory.
The win came 20 years after triple world champion Kostya downed American Jesse James Leija in six rounds in Melbourne.
Nikita, 25, is undefeated through six professional fights while Bommber was 5-0 heading into this clash.
He lived up to his nickname “The Butcher” with the ruthless performance.
“It was over in a flash, I was hoping it was going to go a little longer,” Nikita said.
“I landed an uppercut. I saw a victim, the hunter instinct inside of me went into kill mode.
“If I see someone wounded, I want to hurt them, it’s just instincts.”
Tim Tszyu joined Nikita in the ring and rated his display as “10/10”.
“I’m a proud brother. Nikita did a tremendous job,” Tim said.
“My dad fought here in the Telstra Dome in Melbourne in 2003 so for Nikita to come back 20 years later and continue the legacy here, it’s an honour for us and I’m sure one day I’ll be back as well.”
– With AAP