The world of boxing has a new sensation — and his name is Sonny Abid.
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The Frenchman-turned-Sheppartonian put on a display of the highest calibre in his professional boxing debut on Saturday night in Port Melbourne, finishing opponent Mark Arquiza in a second round technical knockout.
Abid was untroubled throughout the fight, calm and composed in a cagey first round before unleashing hell in the second, the bout stopped halfway through the round.
What looked an even fight early quickly turned into a one-way barrage as Abid landed blow after blow, his ferocious body shots doing the bulk of the damage before Arquiza fell to the floor, the referee taking mercy on the Kiwi soon after.
Trainer Dale Murphy, whose Murf’s Boxing Club team has trained Abid since February, said the performance had been top shelf.
‘‘In the first round he took his time and just sussed him out,’’ Murphy said.
‘‘At the end of the first round Sonny hit him with a straight left and after that I just told him to bring it, push up and take him down. He did exactly that.
‘‘He had hundreds of messages from France, he’s a very popular guy and the crowd loved him.’’
Murphy said Abid’s debut had drawn brilliant reviews, exciting him further about his prodigy’s ability to quickly rise through the ranks.
While it was his professional debut, Abid is certainly no stranger to the ring, having had 79 amateur fights for 69 wins.
‘‘They were all raving about it, straight after the fight we got a copy of the video, even the commentator, Jayde Mitchell, he said it was one of the most impressive displays he’d ever seen on debut,’’ Murphy said.
‘‘The body shots were absolutely awesome and at the end of the day he’s taken all before him and beat him convincingly.’’
After a debut so strong, Abid has plenty of options moving forward, one of them the chance to battle original opponent Victor Nagbe, who pulled out of the fight just a week before.
‘‘He’s been called out again by Victor Nagbe, who’s a kickboxing world champion, and we’re going to accept that,’’ Murphy said.
‘‘And (manager) Barry Michael is putting on a show in Beijing and he said Sonny could headline that.
‘‘Now it’s back to the gym and we’ll keep plugging away.’’
Murphy thanked Abid’s team of cornermen — Wayne Murphy, Bailey Poliness and ‘‘Slick’’ Lenard Ritchie — as well as paying tribute to the team’s sponsors, which include Gozleme Palace, Tatura’s Top Pub, Central Tyre Service, Beautiful Bounty, Knight Street Multi-age Learning, NB Landscaping and Bicknell Signs.
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