Hooper so good even opponent is impressed

Hot light-heavyweight prospect Damien Hooper turned on the style at Metro City on Friday night with a polished display even his busted-up opponent had to admire.

The unbeaten 22-year-old left Josh Webb a bloodied mess before his fellow Queenslander decided to stay in his corner at the end of the third round.

Hooper, fighting for the first time as a pro in Perth, was rewarded for a composed, clinical night with his eighth straight win.

He began slightly casually with a couple of ambitious overhand rights, but after that he followed trainer Gareth Williams' instructions to the letter.

In the second he floored Webb after smartly bringing him onto to a right hand and from then on Webb was on borrowed time.

Webb came out for the third with an ugly welt under his left eye, a target Hooper couldn't miss, and at the end of the round Webb's corner decided there was no point in carrying on.

"I was just finding my range and hitting him with everything when he quit," Hooper said.

"It's a shame, I was having fun in there but didn't get to show everything I had. I had a bit more strength than him. Everything came naturally tonight."

At that moment Webb, his left cheek badly marked, came into the changing room and congratulated the 2012 London Olympian who is promoted by English boxing great Ricky Hatton.

"You came with your 'A' game, that was ******* excellent!" Webb said.

Hooper's manager Matt Clark said the fight should convince Hooper to back his boxing skills rather than trying to bang out opponents.

"We've really drummed into him he's a boxer and that Ricky Hatton signed Damien Hooper to be himself, not Damien Hooper imitating Mike Tyson," Clark said.

Next up for Hooper is an eight-rounder with Joel Casey back in Queesnland on July 30.

Another stand-out performer on the Dragon Fire card was middleweight Wes Capper, who not only boxed beautifully in scoring an eight-round points win over Stephen Ma but showed his punches can carry spite too with a great right hand which put the NSW man down in the last.

Capper (5-0) currently splits his time between America and Perth and now he has decided to put MMA and kick-boxing on the back-burner and concentrate on his boxing, he should have a bright future.

The main event saw Luke Sharp take his record to record to 9-1-2 with a deserved six-round points win over Wade Ryan and a good marker for the Dave Hassan-trained middleweight will be how he goes against Capper-victim Ma in Bunbury on July 12.

Strangest fight of the night involved another Hassan fighter, light-middle Sam Hogan, against NSW brawler Daniel Durham.

Hogan easily took the first with his superior boxing before inexplicably deciding to trade in the second. At times the pair resembled two tangled pieces of pizza as they wrestled on the ropes.

Durham suffered a cut in the third when Hogan went back to script, but in the fourth Hogan again got involved and was put down and looking in serious trouble.

In keeping with the nature of the fight, Hogan won the fifth by boxing a lot more sensibly, then in the last Durham scored with two big right hands.

In the end Hogan got the nod on a split decision, 56-57, 57-56, 57-56, and there could have been no complaints if it had gone either way.

The one title fight ended just as it was getting going, with Angelo Hyder fighter Darragh Foley winning the WA light-welterweight title from champion John Ford on a stoppage.

The busier Foley won the first, opening up a cut over Ford's left eye, but the southpaw Dubliner looked vulnerable too as he lunged in.

And that told in the second when Ford scored with a straight right which saw Foley's leg dip. Foley was cut as well, on the cheek, and this suddenly had the makings of a nice little war.

But at the end of the second the doctors looked at Ford's cut and decided it was too dangerous for the Esperance-based Thai to continue, and Foley took the title.

Ford had won the belt last November when he stopped Brandon Ogilvie, but Ogilvie enjoyed a much better night on his first return to the venue with a shut-out six-round points decision over John Min.

Ogilvie, now at lightweight, was coming off a win in China in May and his confidence looked fully restored last night.

Broader in the shoulders, the Fox's Boxing Den stylist didn't try to rush his work, instead landing with well-timed jabs and single right hands.

He threatened a stoppage in the last but Min dug deep and instead Ogilvie had to settle for a solid points victory.

Results

Darragh Foley bt John Ford RTD 2 (West Australian light-welterweight title)

Wes Capper bt Steven Ma PTS 8

Luke Sharp bt Wade Ryan PTS 6

Brandon Ogilvie bt John Min PTS 6

Sam Hogan bt Daniel Durham SD 6

Ben Page bt Kalolo Faatua TKO 3

Phillip Holding bt Vinnie Caruana PTS 4

Patrick Enenya bt Kingsley Enedeghe TKO 2

Shane Carroll bt Baikon Lokromklao KO 1

Louisa Hawton bt Wiilaiwan Namuanghchan KO 1