Tony displays Seniority in assured Sydney performance

By Cathal Lynch, Australian correspondent for Irish-boxing.com

In just the fourth contest of his professional career, Tony Senior performed with a maturity that belied his relative inexperience as he claimed a comfortable victory in Sydney last Friday night.

With his originally scheduled opponent for the night having withdrawn at late notice, Senior was forced to move up two weight divisions in order to get a fight on the night.

His stand-in opponent, an Indonesian journeyman named Aswin Cabuy, had sixty-two bouts under his belt but had only been stopped nineteen times in his career.

There was a certain risk element in Senior taking the bout against a heavier opponent at short notice, yet there were no signs of apprehension as he operated with an astute assuredness from the opening bell. Looking fit and sharp, the Irish emigrant threw crisp combinations throughout the contest and appeared to have his opponent ripe for the taking on a number of occasions, but he refrained from rushing in looking for the quick finish. It was perhaps wise strategy, as he had been caught himself once or twice as result of momentarily dropping his hands, and it was clear that he would be victorious in this contest provided he continued to box.

Of particular note was the power and precision of Senior’s shots as he dominated each of the four rounds to take a unanimous decision on the judges’ scorecards. The twenty nine year old must rank as an exceptionally strong and athletic prospect when he fights again at his natural weight of light-middle.

Having won his first three fights with early stoppages, these four rounds will be valuable Senior at this early stage in his career, and he expressed his satisfaction at his night’s work to Irish-boxing.com afterwards:

“The circumstances going into this fight weren’t ideal. I had been nursing a bit of an injury to my left hand for the last couple of weeks, then the day before my fight I weigh in at 69.5kg only to be forced to take a bout at super middleweight 24 hours later. My opponent was a southpaw and a seasoned campaigner, so this was a potential banana-skin for me. I have been getting great sparring three times a week with the lads in the gym though, and I am confident in my own ability so I wasn’t going to turn down the fight. I’m happy with the win, especially with the support I got in the crowd and my parents being there too’.

Senior’s next fight is on March 15th in Kensington, Sydney, on a bumper Irish card that also features the undefeated Tony Bates and PABA Champion TJ Doheny.

On the basis of this performance, Tony Senior can look forward to that show with plenty of cause for optimism.