Saturday’s flyweight bout between former title challengers Tim Elliott and Steve Erceg was a battle between chaos and composure, and it was Erceg’s crisp, clean boxing that made the difference against Elliott’s high-energy, unorthodox approach.
Erceg looked as good as we’ve seen him inside the Octagon as he exhibited blistering hand speed and excellent accuracy with his shots while feeding Elliott a continuous diet of snapping, lightning-fast jabs that simply couldn’t miss.
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It took a round for Erceg to really take charge, with Elliott’s sheer force of will and energy giving him plenty to think about defensively during the opening five minutes. But once he got into his groove, Erceg looked outstanding as he pinged Elliott with shots throughout the fight to secure a unanimous decision victory.
Given the seasoned, tricky nature of his opponent, it was a fight that many felt would tell us whether Erceg was ready to make a run back toward the top of the division. Based on that performance, it appears “Astroboy” is ready for takeoff once again.