'Best we've seen': Jorge Kapeen returns in style with stoppage win

"I'm not even close, not even close," the welterweight said following an emphatic comeback.

Kapeen stopped Ryan Cotten 2.13 into the fourth round to open the card headlined by world-ranked featherweight Brock Jarvis and Nort Beauchamp at EPIC's Coorong Pavilion on Friday night.

The clash marked Kapeen's first fight in almost 14 months after his boxing career was halted by the COVID-19 pandemic and an injury.

That meant the 32-year-old had more than a year to stew on a loss - albeit in one of the greatest fights Canberra has ever witnessed against Abe Archibald.

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But Kapeen made a statement in his long-awaited return, coming from behind on the scorecards to secure a stoppage win in the final round.

After all, "it wouldn't be a Koori Zombie fight without a little bit of drama", the 3-1 boxer fighting out of the Canberra PCYC joked in the aftermath.

"This year is going to develop me. Next year I'm going to show what me and my team are about," Kapeen said.

"It's so special to me after having a year off. I went through so much in my last fight, fighting a mate. I'm not taking anything away from him, he fought beautifully on the night but it was one of the toughest things I have done mentally.

"This camp was really tough in terms of bouncing back from the loss. It's emotional, it was a tough ride but we got it done.

"We had three opponent changes, Ryan's record is 5-6 but that doesn't say how good he is. He's actually quite a good boxer."

Well, until now. Cotten falls to 5-7-2 after a Kapeen uppercut dropped him in the fourth round.

Cotten had started strong and led on the scorecards heading into the fourth before Kapeen came back with a vengeance, dropping his opponent before trainer Garry Hamilton threw in the towel.

"I saw the uppercut all night but I wasn't throwing it because he dipped really low and I couldn't get my timing on it," Kapeen said.

"Then in the last I realised when I pushed him back, he doesn't dip as far. When I pushed him back, as soon as he landed, I just threw it and it landed."

That kind of poise under pressure is exactly why Capital Fight Show matchmaker Adam Lovelock backed Kapeen to bounce back in emphatic fashion following the first defeat of his professional career.

"You don't know how a fighter will come back from a loss. I think we're going to see the best Jorge we've ever seen now," Lovelock said.

"He has had that loss now. It's almost like a hoodoo hanging over your head, and everyone is so scared of having that loss.

"Once it's there and it's out of the way, me losing my very first fight as a small kid, that made me so hungry to get back in there. That's just so important."