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Australian Alex Winwood has announced himself as a rising star of the world boxing scene after going toe-to-toe with the WBA minimum-weight champion.
Alex Winwood says his near miss at Australian boxing history is only going to fuel his hunger to "rise back up to greatness" and win a world title.
Winwood won over a legion of new fans on Saturday night when he went toe-to-toe with WBA minimum-weight world champion Thammanoon Niyomtrong at a near-capacity HBF Stadium in Perth.
Niyomtrong won the 12-round bout by unanimous decision, with the judges scoring it 114-112, 114-112, 113-113.
But if it wasn't for two knockdowns, Winwood would have been the victor on points.
Winwood's bravery was typified by the seventh round, when he was floored by a brutal blow and needed almost the entire count to regain his composure.
The 27-year-old still looked dazed while he copped a barrage of punches for the rest of the round, but he somehow survived to the bell and actually managed to turn momentum back his way the longer the fight wore on.
By the 12th round, Winwood had most of the ascendancy, but he was unable to land the knockout blow he needed to snare victory.
A win would have secured Winwood a world title in just his fifth professional bout, setting a record for an Australian male boxer.
Jeff Fenech's seven-bout journey to win the IBF bantamweight world title in 1985 still stands as the Australian record.
But Winwood was heartened by his brave performance against Niyomtrong, who boasts a perfect 25-0 record and has now successfully defended his title 12 times since 2016.
Winwood knows he will need to win a couple of fights before getting another crack at Niyomtrong's belt, but he's determined to get the job done and have the bout in Perth.
"Let's get back in there with people in the top 10 and then contend again," Winwood said.
"But let's not do it at (the smaller) Metro's in Northbridge. Let's fill this stadium (HBF Stadium) out and watch my rise back up to greatness and dare to be great again.
"This is the platform now. This is the standard."
Winwood said even though he didn't walk away with the win, he gained a huge amount of confidence from his performance.
"I put my bloody heart on the line, and I boxed like a true champion," he said.
"I got back up twice, and yeah, I was hurt, and I shook it off.
"I took those punches, and I started picking up rounds.
"I know that I deserve to be in there.
"When you're in there for a championship fight you can't lapse in concentration for a moment, and I did a couple of times, and that's when he capitalised, and the knockdowns counted (against me) at the end of the day."
Winwood's trainer Angelo Hyder is confident a rematch for the title can be held in Perth again.
"People would love to see a rematch in a couple of fights," Hyder said.
"We'll get him (Winwood) a couple of fights, get him back into a position where he could challenge again."
