Despite Robert "The Butcher" Berridge being put to the test by his opponent, Andrew Robinson, at the Rise of the Fallen boxing event in Whanganui last night, Berridge came out on top.
He's the winner of the IBO Inter-Continental light heavyweight title. Berridge (Ngāi Tahu) says, "I'd like to thank my wife and my corner team, and Whanganui - I loved it!"
But it wasn't a win that came easy. Coach Vasco Kovačević says, "The only way we can get back onto the world stage is to get ourselves notice and basically that is what we are doing."
Rob went into the bout as one of NZ's top light heavyweight boxers feeling he still had much to prove.
Berridge says, "Andy is one tough fighter. he just kept going forward with a few head collisions."
It was one of the toughest 10-round fights Berridge had ever experienced and he credits his success to Andrew Robinson.
Kovačević says, 'He is a strong man, never been dropped and for those reasons we chose him."
Even the Whanganui community benefited from the successful event.
Paul Berridge says, "You have seen him in a different character down here, a lot of the New Zealand public wouldn't have seen this side of Rob, and this is the change that was needed for him."