The main event hosted by MTK seen Irish Olympic medalist Paddy Barnes 6(1)-3(2)-0 take on the undefeated Jay Harris 17(9)-0-0 for the vacant IBF Inter-Continental Fly Title. From the start the Irish crowd where in full voice, but not to be out done, Harris the Welsh warrior had brought a noisy crowd of his own to Northern Ireland capital.
The opening round seen Barnes try to stay tight and compact reducing his body size to give Harris less of a target to hit, but quickly this plan was threw out the window as a stray left shot by Harris hurt Barnes and sent him covering in the corner. Harris was slow to react and capitalise given Barnes just enough time to recover and launch a counter attack of his, but little effect.
The second round followed in a similar pattern to the first except this time Harris had the reading of Barnes able to predict his shots and evade with ease, everything Barnes tried Harris had an answer for. Barnes was showing great heart and determination, but Harris was showing his class.
The third round really had the crowd on their feet as a Barnes landed a mean hook that hurt Harris, Barnes seen this as his chance and went all in to capitalise, Harris tried to respond with a few warning shots but Barnes lands a good shot to the head of Harris cutting his eye wide open. Harris came back and floors Barnes with a great body shot. This was a great fight that created an electric atmosphere, the Welsh cheering on their man, while the Irish encouraging Barnes to his feet. Barnes managed to survive until the bell.
The fourth seen Harris continue to dominate, landing with nearly every punch. One shot in particular sent Barnes head flying back. But another two hit combo to the body then the head of Barnes sent him to the floor for a final time unable to beat the count. Harris took the win deservedly.
The Joint Main event Sean McComb v Emiliano Dominguez Rodriguez
Sean McComb 9(4)-0-0 took on and beat his hardest opponent yet in Emiliano Dominguez Rodriguez 23(9)-6-0. The first round seen McComb land a good five hit combo to the head of Rodriguez, but with Rodriguez leading with the head he manages to cut open the left eye of McComb. A good shot rocks Rodriguez but, Rodriguez shows his class and recovers in style as MComb attempts to capitalise but is left swinging wildly hitting noting but air. The second round sees Rodriguez changing tactic to some degree using his alias “La Cobrita” as inspiration, he lies in wait, tempting McComb to come into range before he springs out trying to land a haymaker. But McComb grew wise to this pretty quickly.
Round three seen McComb continue to read Rodriguez well and this continued into the fourth until a stray Rodriguez body shot forces McComb to take a knee. McComb who had largely been in control was all of a sudden hurt, this was a new situation for him, he struggled to deal with this and was knocked off his rhythm for the rest of the round he was just about hanging on and fighting out of desperation., but make it to the bell he did. Round five seen both fighters visibly exhausted and at times the fight became a brawl with McComb coming out on top, a great three hit combo from McComb to the head of Rodriguez could have ended the fight if he had a touch more power behind him.
Round six is where I believe McComb really grew as a boxer showing great maturity, knowing he was tired and in the lead there was no reason to be sucked into a brawl. McComb was using his height and reach, hitting and running getting in and out quick, he was growing and learning as the fight went on. He was using his brain now to figure out Rodriguez’s moves, and using his greatly improved footwork managed to evade any danger. Round Seven seen Rodriguez struggle to get past McCombs defences in a much similar fashion to the previous round.
As the eighth and final round begins the chants of OLE, OLE, lifts the roof of the Ulster hall as the partisan Irish crowd cheer on their man, with the eyes of former World Champions Ryan Burnett and Carl Frampton watching on, McComb knows he only has to avoid being knocked out and the win is his. But Rodriguez is throwing everything he has into this round and McComb is exhausted, he digs deep using all the energy he can muster, he tries desperately to defend those aching ribs, with the crowd in full voice McComb launches a desperate counter attack only for Rodriguez to walk through it. The bells goes and the crowd erupts with euphoria, McComb’s undefeated record continues. I scored the fight 78-74 in McCombs favour, whilst official records show McComb won by 79-73.
This was a very entertaining fight, which showed me McComb has grown not just as a fighter but a boxer; this was a huge step up in class compared to his normal opponents. It took this kind of opponent to get the best out of McComb, now he knows his weakness and can work on them, whilst also showing he can change and adapt during rounds.
Lewis Crocker v Ohio Kain Iremiren
Elsewhere on the under card Lewis Crocker 9(6)-0-0 opened the event with a routine points win over Ohio Kain Iremiren 4-2-2. The judge scored the fight 59-55 in favour of Crocker. I couldn’t argue with that result, the Belfast man was in control from start to finish using his left hook to devasting effect. Iremiren was decent throughout the fight landing a few nice combos but his punches were not carrying any power allowing Crocker to counter with big shots of his own. The first few rounds were fairly even With Crocker doing enough to edge the rounds but by the third round Iremiren was tiring, Crocker was taking advantage of this by busting open Iremiren’s nose and landing a big left shot to the body causing Iremiren to winch. Crocker was now getting the measure of his opponent reading his moves.
The fourth and fifth rounds followed in similar fashion to the third round with Crocker being the dominant an in control fighter. But the sixth round was the round both fighters tried to win it. Out of nowhere Iremiren had power in punches, Crocker was also hitting with venom, but at times he was over stretching knocking himself off balance but Iremiren was not able to capitalise. Overall a solid performance from Crocker. I would argue he badly needs a fighter of a higher class to fully test himself. At times he seems to be going through the motions, almost like he is bored. I feel he needs to step up his level of opponent to get his enjoyment in boxing back again, at the moment each fight seems to be easy for him and he is not fighting at 100%.
Gary Cully v Danny Mendoza
Gary Cully 9(4)-0-0 beat Danny Mendoza 6(4)-5-0 on points with the referee scoring the fight 60-54 in favour of Cully. Cully is picked up another routine win demonstrating his superior foot and hand speed. With his height and reach he could be one to watch for the future. He did get noticeably tired from the fourth round onwards but this could be due a touch of ring rust having been out action for much of the year to being involved in a car crash.
Conrad Cummings v Adam Grabiec
Conrad Cummings 17(7)-3-1 beat Adam Grabiec 7(1)-28(7)-0 on points with the referee scoring the fight 59-54 in Cummings favour. This was not a classic by any means and it’s fair to say Cummings is past his best. Although he picked up a fairly comfortable win, Cummings lacked any imagination, his head movement was poor leaving it static for too long. A decent fighter would expose him badly. This fight was full of controversy from the start to finish, Cummings landing low blow after low blow. After this fight Grabiec should count his jewels to make sure they are both still there. At one stage after a low blow Grabiec’s corner threw in the towel in disgust at Cummings tactics only for the ref to kick the towel back out of the ring again, and continued the fight.
Ruairi Dalton v Jose Hernandez
On his debut Ruairi Dalton 1-0-0 took on and beat Jose Hernandez 4(3)-38(7)-1 on beats the scored the bout 40 – 36 in Dalton’s favour. A decent debut by Dalton who seems to like fight on the back foot, this is where he got a lot of his success.
Paddy Donovan v Arturo Lopez
As far as debuts go this is almost as perfect as it gets, Paddy Donovan 1(1)-0-0 knocked out Arturo Lopez 5-14(6)-3 within 1 minute 16 seconds of the first round. It initially seemed like slow start from Donovan with a few early warning shots landing but were ignored by Lopez to his detriment, as a big left hand nearly took his head off sending him crashing to the floor. Donovan has introduced himself to the professional ranks in style.
Sean Duffy v Edwin Tellez
Sean Duffy 3(1)-0-0 beat Edwin Tellez 12(6)-58(6)-5 on points in a largely uneventful fight, the judged scored the fight 40-36 in Duffy’s favour. The fight was largely uneventful as Duffy bossed the fight in a very impressive and methodical way. Duffy was switching his target from head to body using combos and mixing it up very well. He was on the front foot, then back foot, he probed for weaknesses without giving Tellez an opportunity to respond. Overall a very good performance by Duffy.
Terry Flanagan v Michael Ansah
Former WBO World lightweight champion Terry Flanagan 35(14)-2-0 beat Michael Ansah 17(11)-10(3)-2 by disqualification. Flanagan for being a former world champion was largely unimpressive, especially against a fighter who has difficulty winning a regional belt in Ghana. Flanagan did what he had to winning each round but by the end of the fourth it had all got too much for Ansah who lashed out after the bell, the referee had seen enough and called the fight off. This had been coming as he had already lashed out after the bell at the end of the second and third rounds, but he had also been deducted a point in the third for fouling. The official ruling was that the disqualification was a result of constant fouling.
Pierce O’Leary v Oscar Amador
Pierce O’Leary 1-0-0 making his debut beat Oscar Amador 10(1)-23(7)-0 in what was a very entertaining fight. Although this was O’Leary’s debut he commanded the centre of the ring like a pro with 10 fights under his belt, this lead to Amador getting frustrated and showing this at times lashing out after the bell in the first round. O’Leary continued throughout the fight showed great maturity beyond his years and was regularly landing big body combos. His tactics were spot and he was showing subtle hints of a natural ability whilst using every trick he could to get under the skin of Ansah and using his shoulder to push Ansah into range. Overall a very good performance from O’Leary who thoroughly entertained the audience and got the job done comfortably. I look forward to seeing more of this guy in future. The referee scored this fight 40-36 in favour of O’Leary.