US great calls out 'unacceptable' shoes... and it was just the start of ...
Standing at 216 centimetres, Julius Long is the tallest heavyweight boxer in the world.
But in the ring on Sunday even the American’s significant height advantage was no match for the pure power of Toese Vousiutu, suffering a fourth-round TKO defeat.
Things took a bizarre turn from the very beginning of the fight as Long entered the ring in sneakers, drawing the attention of American boxing great Shawn Porter in commentary.
“Some things are just unacceptable,” Porter said.
“These shoes are unacceptable. I don’t care how big his feet are, he could have found something.”
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Long then had to contend with getting vaseline in his eyes before the bout even began, desperately trying to rub it off with his gloves.
Once the action got underway little improved for Long, who was certainly enjoying himself inside the ring as he danced around and playfully teased with Vousiutu at times.
But it wasn’t as enjoyable when Vousiutu was landing, backing up the American to the ropes before dropping him inside the final minutes of the third round.
“He looked absolutely gone,” Ben Damon said in commentary, while Jeff Fenech said Long could “hardly walk” back to his corner after the third round.
It didn’t take long though for Long to find himself on the canvas again and this time for good, with a brutal left hook bringing an end to the fight.
It was one-way traffic for the most part before then anyway, with Long landing just eight of 40 punches by the end of the second round.
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Vousiutu though had nothing but respect for Long, who took the fight on short notice and described it as a “tough” challenge.
“Credit to Julius,” he said post-fight.
“I have a lot of respect [for him]. He took the fight on a week’s notice. A lot of the heavyweights here in Australia are all fit and ready to go but they don’t want to fight.
“I don’t understand it.”
As for who could be next up for Vousiutu, who improved his record to 6-1 with Sunday’s win, the Australian now has his eyes on a rematch with Kiki Toa Leutele.
