IT lasted a little longer than his debut fight, but local boxer ‘Lethal’ Liam Vernon remains undefeated.
Vernon defeated Dean ‘The Punisher’ Purdon in a unanimous points decision on a hot Friday night at the Italian Club in Perth.
With the air-conditioning broken, conditions favoured the much more experienced Queenslander. Weighing in at 73.5 kilograms, Purdon was also nearly a kilo heavier than Vernon who came in at 72.2kg.
Vernon stuck to his traditional prematch routine - relaxing with his family, which included specially cooked meals from his wife and nutritionist Angie and quality time with his son.
From the opening round it was clear both fighters had done their homework. Purdon was wary of Vernon’s lethal left hook, while Vernon stuck to his game-plan of trying to out-skill his opponent.
The first two rounds easily went to Vernon, outboxing his opponent, who was getting wobbly on his feet. “Once the fight started, he kept coming at me,” Vernon said.
“The pressure was relentless. I tried to use my angles and get some good hits in. “I went for the kill, but I couldn’t finish him. Anyone else would’ve gone down.”
The third round proved tougher as Purdon tried to get back into the match. “Liam got sucked in a little in the third,” trainer Tommy Greenwood said.
“He could see that Purdon was getting wobbly and started fighting on his terms.”
“We told Liam to get back to the game plan.
“We knew Purdon had a jaw of granite and a heart of a lion, so a knock-out had always been unlikely.
“Liam will learn from this - it was the first time he had gone the full four rounds.”
In the fourth, Vernon stuck to the game plan and clearly won the round on points.
“The win is fantastic for Liam, for the boxing club and for Collie. He fights with his heart on his sleeve and for the town,” Greenwood said.
The victory catapults Vernon to 15th in the Australian super-middleweight rankings.
