WHEN Gold Coast super middleweight Rohan Murdock steps back into the ring at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre on October 14th, there will be only one result that counts.

“I definitely want a knockout,” says Murdock, who will be facing experienced Tanzanian Said Mbelwa (43-24-5, 28 KOs) over eight rounds on the card.

“I won’t be happy if it’s not a knockout with this guy. I’m going for a knockout. I won’t look for it, but I’ll set it up and hopefully we’ll get him out of there.”

After the dismal showing of the Gold Coast’s flagship franchises the Titans and the Suns this year – both finished second-last in their respective NRL and AFL competitions – Murdock (19-1, 14 KOs) is keen to give Gold Coast sports fans the taste of winning that they have so sorely missed out on this footy season.

The former world number six, who has a knockout ratio of seventy percent in twenty professional bouts, is looking forward to entertaining his fans with another explosive performance.

The heavy-handed Murdock says that his vaunted power comes from the technique he has honed over years of training under the watchful eye of coach Chris Carden.

“I’m physically there a lot, so that wears them down in the later rounds,” says Murdock. “Or it can be just too much early on for some guys. I think I’ve got a good punch. If you can combine the technical aspect with the physical presence, that’s what gets a lot of guys out of there, especially in the later rounds.”

The once-beaten 25-year-old from Varsity Lakes wants to reclaim his world ranking and position himself for a shot at the world title in the next eighteen months after a disappointing year marred by injuries.

Late last year a road accident in Indonesia saw him come off second best when the motorbike he was riding smashed into the back of a car that veered in front of him. The crash did something to Murdock no opponent has been able to do thus far – knock him out – as well as breaking his jaw.

To add insult to injury, Murdock was robbed of his phone and wallet while he lay on the side of the road out cold. It brought an abrupt end to his holiday.

After recovering from the accident Murdock was scheduled to return to the ring on the undercard of Manny Pacquiao’s WBO welterweight world title defence against Jeff Horn at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane in July, but fate again intervened to prevent the bout from happening.

“It was so close, it was about seven weeks out,” says Murdock of the hand injury that nixed the fight. “So with my hand they had to open that up as well. I had all this tendon damage so that was a massive letdown. That put me out for maybe a couple of months so coming back from that, just to get back on a show, has been a bit of a pain.

“My hand has been alright for a while now so it’s good to finally get on a show. I was told I would be on Jeff Horn’s next card, so it’s all looking up now. But it was devastating at the time.”

Three years ago Murdock announced his arrival on the world stage with a dominant sixth round stoppage of Anthony Mundine conqueror and former WBA super middleweight champion Manny Siaca. Murdock battered the Puerto Rican veteran from pillar to post, forcing the former champion to retire on his stool after six one-sided rounds.

Tickets for “It’s Time” are available from Ticketek.com.au starting from $59.10. The card will be broadcast live and free on Epicentre.TV beginning at 7:00pm (AEST).

Words: Press Release
Photo: Getty Images