[Feb 23] Tonight,at the Vodaphone Arena, in Melbourne, Australian, Robbie Peden fought the fight of his life, and battered and busted up Nate "The Galaxy Warrior" Campbell ,to win the I.B.F. Super featherweight title.

Leading up to the fight, the bookies had the Aussie, down as the underdog, but 10 seconds into the fight, that all changed. Looking into their eyes, you could see the difference between the two boxers. Campbell looked like he had just got out of bed after a night on the sauce, but look across the room and you saw a boxer who had fire in his eyes. Peden, was pumped ,and from the opening bell, he jabbed, and bedazzled Campbell with fast pin point combinations that left "The Galaxy Warrior" on another planet.

The first round was a bit of a jabathon for both men, with Peden getting the better punches off and this set the scene and the pace for the rest of the fight. Round two was more of the same and i noticed that Campbell seemed to be looking for a reaction from the referee all the time, which is never a good sign. He claimed Peden was using roughhouse tactics to win the fight.

You could say he had a point, but it was a fight for the world title and the way i saw it was that Peden just wanted it more. Round three, was probably Campbells best round, and he opened up for the first time and landed big hooks to Pedens head and midsection. Round four was the beginning of the end for Campbell. Both boxers exchanged big punches and after breaking, Campbell was cut above the eye, and he claimed to have been headbutted.

After pleading with the referee, the ref, told them to box on and indicated it was a punch that caused the gash. Campbell, seemed to wake up, and tried to land some big shots to Peden, but the Aussie showed superb evasive skills to get out, from the line of fire. Round five, Peden started the round with great footwork and boxing skills to totally frustrate Campbell, and once again he kept looking at the referee for some kind of support.

Pedens confidence was soaring and he began taunting Campbell then switching at all angles to land clean punches to the Americans eyes. Round six. Campbell looked like he wanted to go home, with both eyes cut, and his body busted up, but Peden was having none of it. Peden was having way too much fun and it was now becoming way too one sided. Campbell was tired, frustrated and was fighting on empty now and you could sense it was only a matter of time. Round seven, Peden was boxing, moving , and even smiling at Campbell and won the round easily.

Round eight , Peden opened up on Campbell with ferocious left, right hooks that forced him back on to the ropes and while pinning him down and not allowing him to breathe, he busted up Nate Campbell until the referee jumped in to stop the fight.

After eight years, Robbie Peden had achieved what he set out to do, and win a world title belt. It was a great display from the Aboriginal boxer from Brisbane, and talking to him afterwards, he told me, he now wanted to set another goal for himself, and unify the super featherweight titles . "
no one one wanted to fight me. now i have the I.B.F title, let them come to me. i''ll fight any of them" Stay tuned for undercard report.

Congratulations to Tony Caradona, Glenn Wheatley, Dan Goossen, and Stuart Duncan for bringing this superb boxing extravaganza of "Big time boxing" back to Australia. With a sell out crowd,in attendance, hopefully this will encourage them to keep em coming.