By Jonty Ralphsmith
Cranbourne professional boxer Theo Dounias has finished 2023 on a high after defeating Jason Medawar at Melbourne Pavilion last week.
Dounias won in a majority decision ruling, with two of three judges adjudicating him to have won each of the four rounds.
The result lifts his professional record to 5-1.
After a nine-week lead-in, Dounias was satisfied with how he approached the fight, showing much more patience than in previous bouts and picking the right time to land his blows.
“I felt like I really outclassed him and had way more tricks up my sleeve than what he did so it was quite easy compared to the last two fights,” Dounias said.
“I was expecting him to hold a lot and spoil my success.
“The opponent is very good at making you look bad and spoiling your success; he negates your strengths.
“I felt like he couldn’t do that to me.”
Having beaten Medawar via majority decision in just his second professional fight in December 2021, the way last week’s fight played out was a clear measuring stick of his improvement.
“When he was holding me I was last time trying to outmuscle him whereas this time I was waiting for him to stop holding me and I wanted to be quick off the break to win the exchange,” Dounias said.
“I used a lot more speed and power this fight and it paid heaps of dividends.
“I felt like I barely got out of second gear for the fight; I used quick hand speed and didn’t have to overexert myself physically.”
It was Dounias’ first fight since being knocked out by the highly regarded Mason Smith in March.
Multiple fights were organised in the interim but opponents withdrew which caused the long hiatus.
The focus in the interim has been patience in the ring given the increased endurance demanded of professional boxing.
“I saw my performance in my last fight last weekend as being leaps and bounds ahead of my last two fights,” Dounias said.
“I showed a lot more skill and development in myself instead of using my physical brawn to win the fight.
“The goal for the next fight is to keep developing the skill and increase the rounds we’re fighting.
“So far we’ve only ever fought four and six round fights.
“I want to do a six rounder early next year then step up to eight rounds.
“The longer rounds generally bring better opponents, so that will take me into the next league.”
