Rising Australian light heavyweight Conor Wallace and fellow contender Jack Gipp promised an action-packed fight, and they delivered on that promise Sunday night at the Fortitude Music Hall.
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The opening salvo
From the opening bell, the four-inch shorter Gipp stalks Wallace, looking to land his big left hook. Wallace obliges the crowd by engaging in heated exchanges, with both men having successes. Gipp bloodied Wallace’s nose at the end of the first round.
The back-and-forth action continued in the second. In the third, Gipp started finding a home for his left hook, backing Wallace to the ropes at times, though Wallace taunts and showboats to the crowd. Wallace begins landing in bunches in the fourth, while Gipp connects on an eye-catching lead left uppercut late in that same round.
The tide shifts for Conor Wallace
In the fifth, Gipp traps Wallace on the ropes and unloads, but Wallace spins off and fights back hard to gain the momentum edge heading into the sixth round.
Early in the sixth, the pace slows for a moment before Wallace starts letting his hands go in ferocious combinations, hurting Gipp and ultimately dropping him with a barrage along the ropes. After an eight count, Wallace refuses to let Gipp off the hook, swarming until the referee waves it off at the 2:48 mark.
What they said
“I think we did a bit of everything,” an ecstatic Wallace said. “My coach Greg Eadie is one of the best…without him none of this would be possible.”
Gipp showed class in defeat, stating: “I knew Conor would probably be the hardest fight of my career…I’m still getting used to light heavyweight. Maybe down the line we can do it all again.”
Wallace’s promoter Mick Francis raved: “That was possibly the fight of the year…We need to move on to bigger and better things.”
Wallace concurred: “I’m definitely moving on overseas, right now.”
Published 19-March-2024
