Bowyn Morgan

Early years

Morgan made his debut against fellow countryman Martin Mech at the Hornby Working Men's Club in Christchurch. The pair met as amateurs five times, with Morgan beating his opponent in each bout they shared together. He fought in a six three-minute round contest as the headliner on Friday Night Fights that featured five corporate and five professional bouts.^[9] Morgan overcame with a convincing technical knockout stoppage victory. He tagged Mech who received a standing eight count then the fight was stopped in the third round with Morgan well ahead on points.^[10]

In just his second professional fight, Morgan fought on the undercard of Joseph Parker's win over Jason Pettaway at Manukau in March. He dominated the Samoan-born Ivana Siau in a unanimous points victory.^[11] He then fought in his hometown of Greymouth with a six-rounder over mixed martial arts fighter Shaun Colmore before fighting Australian Luke Travers. Morgan knocked Travers down twice within 22 seconds of the second round before Travers' corner threw in the towel. Both fighters traded punches early, but Morgan finished him off with a flurry of lefts.^[12] His next fight over Nuka Gemmell caused controversy, with Morgan initially receiving the win by way of technical knockout, but the decision was changed to a technical draw minutes after. The New Zealand Professional Boxing Association changed the result against Gemmell to a no-decision after a submission from Morgan's camp.^[13] He then extended his record to five consecutive wins with another technical knockout victory over René Raschka at the Lincoln Event Centre as the main event on King of Kings III - No Mercy, hosted by Lee Gar Entertainment.

Morgan was due to play a major role on another Joseph Parker undercard in April 2016, but it was postponed. He instead decided to fight as the headliner at the Addington Raceway against experienced Daniel Maxwell over ten rounds for the vacant New Zealand national welterweight title.^[14] The belt was vacated by fellow New Zealand welterweight Cairo George after George turned down a challenge from Morgan. Morgan comfortably won, in a one-sided unanimous decision over his opponent. He dropped Maxwell to the canvas with a body shot in the sixth round and with a right hand to the head in the final seconds of the tenth and final round.^[15] Morgan won his seventh successive victory against former Queensland champion Ben Kite. Kite having lost his first two fights as a professional, was on a unbeaten streak and had never been knocked out.^[16] He won with over a minute left in a second-round technical knockout.^[17] Morgan was currently on a fight-by-fight deal with promoter Duco Events but soon suffered his first loss of his career. Morgan attempted to extend his record when he took on Australian Kris George.^[18] He dropped George with a left hook late in the first round, but George securred the win in the third of eight scheduled rounds after he knocked down Morgan with a left-right combination to the head which left referee Paul McSherry no option but to stop the fight.^[19]

After quick succession, Morgan announced he would go up a weight division to super welterweight to take on fellow New Zealander Gunnar Jackson at the Vodafone Events Centre. His opponent had eight losses including Anthony Mundine and Olympic gold medallist Ryota Murata.^[20] Morgan claimed a unanimous decision over Jackson with a busy encounter where Jackson used his weight to have Morgan on the ropes for majority of the fight.^[21] In November he gained another victory against Blake Bell and stopped former Tongan Commonwealth Games representative Ikani Falekaono inside two rounds in February.

Morgan fought for the vacant International Boxing Organisation Oceania super welterweight belt in a rematch against Gunnar Jackson. He beat Jackson over eight rounds in a close decision the previous year with all three judges scoring the first fight all in Morgan's favor.^[22] He defeated Jackson again and lifted the vacant IBO regional title at the Hornby Working Men's Club. Morgan won with another unanimous decision victory in a ten round contest that was significantly one-sided. He landed powerful body punches which eventually tired Jackson and finished the bout with a number of accurate shots.^[23]

Career breakout

Morgan fought Paitoon Jaikom in an eight-round encounter. Thailand-born Jaikom was a former veteran muay thai fighter and had also never been stopped.^[24] Morgan controlled the fight and won by unanimous decision with two judges returning cards of 82–72 and the third at 80–69. His opponent threw dangerous punches in the final round.^[25] After a dominating knockout performance against Ben Nelson, Morgan prepared for Stevie Ongen Ferdinandus. For the IBO Asia-Pacific strap, Ferdinandus had the significant experience, height and reach advantage over Morgan.^[26] Morgan came out victorious with an early knockout before extending his record to fifteen wins against James Bishop as the main event at Hotel Motueka the following year.^[27]

On May 4 in Christchurch, Morgan walked out against Mexican opponent Andrés Delfín Rodríguez. He added extra coaching in preparing for Rodríguez under the guidance of Crusaders strength and conditioning coach Simon Thomas. The fight was for the newly Pro-Box Pacific welterweight title.^[28] Morgan defeated Rodríguez, who was fighting outside of Mexico for the first time. An impressive eighth-round knockout after landing repetitive right hands throughout the fight. Morgan handed Rodríguez the seventh loss of his professional career and was the first to knock him out.^[29]

It was announced via SKY Sport New Zealand that Morgan would be featuring on another Shane Cameron Fight Night undercard on April 5, 2018, against super welterweight Shaye Brock.^[30]