'I got dragged into a fight,' admits McCloskey
I doubt Paul McCloskey has ever landed a sweeter punch in his life. In the eleventh-round of his maiden European title defence at Belfast’s King’s Hall, the 30-year-old light-welterweight uncorked a scintillating right hook to deposit Giuseppe Lauri firmly to the canvas.
As the referee tolled out an academic count and Lauri’s over-passionate corner team stormed the ring in frustration, McCloskey threw himself to the canvas in relief.
“I wanted to make a hole in the ring floor,” he joked post-fight.
The Italian was every bit as rough and ready as we had expected with the only surprise being that McCloskey seemed willing to accommodate his rough house style and dish back plenty of his own. The fight did not descend into an ugly maul and remained a gruelling, yet enjoyable, spectacle throughout. This was due in most part to McCloskey’s decision to neglect the smooth boxing style that had led him to Euro glory and face the Italian head on in trench warfare.
Paul was always ahead despite Lauri’s best efforts to keep the fight within touching distance and a point deduction for McCloskey in the tenth-round had little bearing on the scorecards – had they been needed. Lauri is no mug, only the best stop him and few as emphatically as the Dungiven man. The 35-year-old tried to get under McCloskey’s skin pre-fight and the champion was in no mood for forgetting. More than once the two stood in centre ring, eyeball to eyeball as the bell signalled the end of a session.
The Derryman has captured the imagination of the Belfast fight fraternity, as was attested to by the healthy and vociferous crowd that turned out on Friday night. Now sporting a 21-0 (11 KO’s) record, McCloskey is chasing world honours, with all light-welterweight belt holders in his sight.
“He [Lauri] was rough with the head and cut me from a headbutt. When I cut him it was from a punch,” Paul explained.
“I’ve knocked out boys before but that was a great punch. I caught him right and his head hit the floor with a crack. I got dragged into a fight but I’m delighted to still be European champion,” he added.
Lurgan’s Stephen Haughian failed in a bid to claim the Celtic welterweight crown in the chief support bout of the undercard.
Haughian’s aggressive start was counteracted my McIntyre’s smooth boxing, circling the ring using the southpaw jab and straight left hand to full effect. The Irishman had plenty of vocal support in the arena and despite opening a cut over Kevin’s left eye he was coming off second best by the middle rounds.
McIntyre used his experience and skills to outfox the Irishman and claim the belt unanimously on the judges’ scorecards.
Super-bantamweight Carl Frampton entered the arena to a rapturous reception and did not disappoint his fans when beating Ian Bailey over six-threes.
Belfast boy Frampton spoke pre-fight of his excitement at fighting in the same King’s Hall venue that his manager Barry McGuigan graced during his own ring career. Carl has class to burn, raking Bailey with a variety of shots from multiple angles. The Slough fighter showed an abundance of grit to last the course and continue trying to halt the Frampton express. McGuigan is returning to Belfast to promote later this year and the future looks extremely bright for his protégé.
Cavan talent Andy Murray continues to push towards a European title shot, mooted for Septermber/October this year.
The John Breen-trained lightweight used a consistent body attack to melt down Jon Baguley in the second of a scheduled six-rounder. Baguley is better than his record suggests and has contested title fights in his short career, but the Ingle-trained switch hitter was no match for the skills of Murray, who fights in Cork on June 26th.
Rookie flyweight Jamie Conlan outpointed Delroy Spencer 39-37 on the walk-out bout of the evening. It was unfortunate that the well-supported Conlan, who is a talented prospect, had to wait until the end of the night to have his turn. Some neat body punches had Del running towards the end of the bout but it would have taken more than a four-round distance to walk the veteran down for a stoppage.
Ciaran Healy ended a five-fight winless run by outpointing Harry Matthews and ending the Englishman’s nine-fight unbeaten run as a professional. In truth Matthews was out hustled throughout the contest and Healy was a deserving victor.
Cuba’s Luis Garcia stopped Welshman Nathan King in the fourth-round of a scheduled six. Garcia was businesslike from the off, winging in punches on his survival-minded opponent who had recently pushed former Olympic medallist and unbeaten professional Tony Jeffries close. A sweet left-right combination sent King sprawling across the canvas and the stunned journeyman rose unsteadily, just about convincing Paul McCullagh that he was ready to resume hostilities. Moments later he was caught up in the ropes and tasting more of Garcia’s finest when McCullagh interceded, to no complaints from King or his corner.
On the rest of the undercard former WBA light-welterweight champion Gavin Rees stopped ex-Commonwealth title challenger Sam Amoako in three rounds. Former Prizefighter participant Gary McArthur moved to 15-1 when York’s Graham Fearn was halted in the second round of their scheduled four-threes and finally unbeaten Scottish southpaw Kris Carslaw outscored Ben Deghani over four rounds.
