AUCKLAND – Former Sydney Roosters rugby league player Willis Meehan displayed his boxing potential on Thursday night with a crushing second round stoppage of overmatched New Zealander Leamy Tato.
Meehan, who was sacked mid-season by the Roosters for off-field issues, improved his burgeoning boxing record to 4-0, with 3 KOs.
Back in Auckland, the city of his birth, the 126kg giant was way too strong and classy at Trusts Stadium for a fighter who, at 41, was more than twice his age and had weighed in almost 17kg lighter.
The 20-year-old Meehan, from the NSW central coast, who was appearing on the undercard of his father’s main event fight with Joseph Parker, didn’t throw many punches in the first minute of the scheduled six-rounder.
However, he pounded Tato with numerous punches for the final 30 seconds of the round, but the game Wellington boxer somehow survived to hear the bell.
There was no reprieve for him in round two as another fearsome volley of unanswered blows finally prompted referee David Craig to stop the bout after several spectators yelled for the fight to be called off earlier.
Meehan, who was an Australian schoolboys league representative, is still hoping to return next year to the NRL.
Tato’s record dropped to 1-4 (1 KO).
