In 2005, Bob Mirovic was involved in one of the great heavyweight bouts of the decade when he and Rob Caloway beat the hell out of each other for 12 rounds. Mirovic lost the decision but to anyone who saw the fight, he and Calloway will be remembered for their magnificently brutal battle and and their never-ceasing courage.

On November 2, in a bout televised in Australia by FoxSports, Mirovic challenged for a title he had held twice before, the Australian heavyweight championship. The man Mirovic would fight was the man he had beaten for that title the first time he won it. In fact, Mirovic had beaten Colin Wilson four times, twice with the Australian title on the line.

Both men are nearing the end of their careers. Since defeating Wilson for the 4th time, Mirovic had compiled a 3-6 record including the loss to Calloway and defeats at the hands of Timo Hoffmann, Peter Okhello, Sinan Samil Sam, Shane Cameron, and Francois Botha. Wilson, since the 2004 loss to Mirovic, was 3-4, losing to Cameron, former WBO champion Corrie Sanders, Oleg Platov, and unbeaten prospect Francesco Pianeta.

Each man entered the ring wanting and needing a win desperately. "Big Bob", now 41, started somewhat ineffectively and the more aggressive 35-year-old defending champion won the first two rounds on the TTR card. Mirovic threw more punches but Wilson dictated the pace, was more accurate, and landed the better blows. He also landed a low blow just before the bell ending the 3rd round, a round Mirovic clearly won.

In the 4th round, Wilson lost a point for a borderline punch and lost another point for a shot that probably dented Mirovic's protective cup. The action then heated up as the two 260 plus pound behemoths took turns teeing off on each other, During the action, Wilson, 261 3/4, sustained a cut as the result of an accidental clash of heads.

At the start of the 5th round, Mirovic, 261, targeted the nasty cut with Wilson countering with legal and illegal body shots. Wilson was warned again but the referee did not deduct another point. The seemingy more focused Wilson brawled to an even round. (After 5 rounds, the Australian announcers had Mirovic ahead 49-44 but he led only 48-46 on the TTR card.)

Wilson's late surge won the 6th round for him (one announcer gave it to Wilson, the other to Mirovic) and the defending champ came out firing at the beginning of the 7th round. Both landed on each other but Wilson scored with the harder shots during the first half of the round. The second half was highlighted by a telling body shot by Mirovic, "The Big Bear," who landed repeatedly on the visibly tiring Wilson during the last minute to take the round. (The announcers scored the round 10-10.)

In the 8th, Mirovic floored Wilson with body shots three times forcing referee Steve Marshall to hlt the contest at 2:24 of the round.



The judges had Mirovic well ahead- 67-62, 70-62, and 69-63. It was closer on TTR's card with "Big Bob", now 29-19-2 with 20 KO's, leading 67-65. The loss drops Wilson's record to 33-22 with 1 No Decision and 20 KO's.

On the undercard, Les Piper (5-2-2, 2 KO's) TKO'ed Nicholas Savidis Jr. (2-1-1, 0 KO's) to win the vacant Queensland State super middleweight title, junior welterweight Lance Gostelow (13-1, 11 KO's) kayoed Australia-based Filipino Junmar Dalog (4-10-1, 2 KO's), super middleweight Israel Kani (8-1-1, 3 KO's) outpointed William Hodlow (4-9-4, 1 KO) over 8 rounds, super featherweight Trent Wehrman (2-0, 2 KO's) TKO'ed Chris Smith (0-2) at 1:28 of the 2nd round, and heavyweight Colin McIlwaine Jr. (1-1, 1 K0) knocked out Tyrone Withers (0-2) at 1:00 of the 3rd round.

UNDERCARD HLs