George Burgess vs Asofa-Solomona Turns Unwatchable

George Burgess’s bout against Nelson Asofa-Solomona at Brisbane’s Pat Rafter Arena ended with a towel thrown in the third round, after a first-round pectoral tear and a performance so out of sorts that it left boxing fans — including overseas viewers — shocked

The cringe started long before the opening bell on Wednesday night at Brisbane’s Pat Rafter Arena.

George Burgess and Nelson Asofa-Solomona were led into the ring as if they were stepping into a world title moment. with Conrad Sewell singing Burgess in to Firestone and NAS entering to a guitarist performing the riff from Bon Jovi’s Livin’ On A Prayer before the chorus finally kicked in. If you’d tuned in from overseas with no context for Australian “headline” boxing. the presentation alone could have made it feel like two heavyweight champions were about to collide.

But once round one began, the gap in boxing readiness became hard to ignore.

Burgess — who had never fought professionally before — kept swinging despite tearing his left pectoral muscle in the first round and taking huge shots that left him visibly scattered. Yet the fight quickly looked like something far removed from the level of an elite contest: no balance. no clear sense of how to throw his punches. his head kept held high as he took his eyes off Asofa-Solomona. and a level of technical confusion that made every mistake stand out.

Asofa-Solomona’s right hand did the damage. Burgess ate massive punches and responded by lashing out wildly. throwing himself off balance so badly he almost fell over without being hit. He also turned his back on his opponent more than once — a move experienced fans associate either with foul play tied to trying to avoid contact or with a fighter being too hurt or too outmatched to continue correctly. In Burgess’s case, it didn’t look like an intentional foul. It looked like he was simply overwhelmed.

And even beyond the punches, the situation spiralled into the kind of chaos you never want to see in a professional ring.

After the bell ended the first round. Burgess wobbled back toward his corner only to find his seconds had forgotten to put the stool out for him — described as one of the most basic jobs. especially when a fighter is almost out on his feet. From there. Burgess managed to land some right hands. but he was still getting punished and. at times. appeared not to know where he was.

The referee even had to direct Burgess back to the action on occasions when clinches were broken, including moments where Burgess turned his back on NAS and stared out toward the crowd.

By the third round. Burgess’s corner finally threw in the towel — but it came. in the view shared by the writer who has watched Aussie boxing for more than 40 years. far too late. In the same breath. he said he was yelling for the fight to be stopped before his courage backfired on him and he got seriously hurt.

When the stoppage came, another bizarre scene followed. Asofa-Solomona picked up the towel and wiped blood off Burgess’s face before the cornermen could reach him. Burgess wasn’t stopped by a clean punch. Instead. NAS leaned his 140kg bulk on him until he sank to the canvas. totally spent. with eyes wide and unable to focus.

The bout mattered because it wasn’t just any fight on a card.

It took place immediately prior to Liam Paro’s world title scrap against Northern Ireland’s Lewis Crocker. a fight of such high quality that boxing fans across the world had eyes on it. The contest was even live-blogged on the BBC, placing Burgess and Asofa-Solomona squarely under international scrutiny.

For anyone watching the card as intended — with the Paro-Crocker fight delivering the real boxing focus — the Burgess bout became something else entirely. The writer’s image of the mismatch was stark: as far as overseas viewers would have been concerned. it looked like two blokes throwing haymakers outside a pub after necking a few too many beers on a Saturday night.

Tim Tszyu, who was on the panel commentating on the fight, summed it up as “tough as hell to watch,” a line the writer called a massive understatement.

There were also concerns about the matchup build. Burgess was described as entering the ring out of shape. having refused to reveal any footage of his training. and the writer admitted he had worried before the bout that Burgess could get seriously hurt. Those worries grew with every second he remained in the ring.

The fight ultimately landed as the biggest black eye for Aussie boxing in the writer’s memory.

He also traced the problem beyond one bout: he pointed to the way footy stars keep being put into boxing spotlight on major cards. including with big promotional emphasis as boxing competes for viewers and money with the UFC. The writer argued that if stars want to punch each other. that’s fine in the right format — but “don’t make them the headline acts on a card like this. ” and don’t hype them as the second coming of Mike Tyson if they can’t box.

Wednesday night’s card gave the world a world-title showdown in Liam Paro’s fight with Lewis Crocker.

Then it followed with a bout that. for some watching — especially overseas — felt less like professional boxing and more like an avoidable embarrassment. starting with elaborate ring walks and ending with a late towel. a blood wipe. and a wounded fighter left to pay the price for a mismatch that never should have made it into the ring.

George Burgess Nelson Asofa-Solomona Liam Paro Lewis Crocker Conrad Sewell Brisbane Pat Rafter Arena Aussie boxing Pat Rafter Arena fight boxing news