Thiam no match for Andy Lee in Limerick

You can only beat what’s in front of you, as the old saying goes. Andy Lee certainly did that as the Limerick middleweight dominated Frenchman Mamadou Thiam for a second-round retirement on Saturday May 15th in the city’s University Arena. Promoter Brian Peters put on another excellent show in the latest of his popular Yanjing Fight Night series.

Mamadou came in with a puncher’s reputation but had trouble keeping his feet (slipping to the canvas three times) and used the ropes to hold him up. Lee, with Emmanuel Steward in his corner, used his purposeful southpaw jab to open up Mamadou and dropped in some meaty left hands to keep his man “honest”.

Thiam limped back to his corner at the end of the second session and shook his head to the corner team. Croatian Mirko Skoko called over Emile Tiedt who accepted the retirement and sent the home crowd into raptures. European middleweight king Darren Barker will hopefully be next, later in the year in Limerick.

Cuba’s Luis Garcia got some valuable RTE airtime but took a while to warm up against Alexander Sipos of Germany. The talented super-middleweight (who scaled 12st 4llb 8oz for this one) dropped the first round on my card to the bull rushing Sipos but took the remaining five with his jab and fast hands wearing down the Munich man.

Sipos (12st 4llb 5oz) went into a shell early in the second and rarely re-appeared, happy to survive the six rounds. Referee Micky Vann totalled 60-54 while I had it slightly narrower, but the right man got the verdict. Garcia has been inactive and will now hope to stay busy if he is to fulfil his undoubted potential.

Light-heavyweight duo Jamie Power and John Waldron produced a fantastic scrap as both men vied for the vacant Irish title. Ballyhaunis’s Waldron offered a career-best boxing performance to break local man Power’s heart and deservedly take the title after ten hard fought rounds.

Waldron (12st 5llb 9oz) had offered signs that he was a good boxer in the past, but arguably a little one-paced. On this night, his jab was superb and stopped Jamie (12st 7llb 2oz) setting his feet to land the big shots. John landed flush as early as the second round and had Power’s legs wobbling before Jamie went down from a knockdown in the fourth and rose sporting a cut to his left ear.

Blood spewed down his back but the brave Limerick native kept plugging away, landing solitary body blows as Waldron’s accurate jab landed repeatedly. Power was dropped again the fifth from a right behind the ear and cut over the right eye in the ninth. He dragged up a massive effort in the final round but John stayed firm and was remarkably fresh in posting a 97-91 win on David Irving’s scorecard. I totalled 99-89 in Waldron’s favour, giving Power only the sixth round.

EU lightweight king Andy Murray kept busy with a win over England’s Amir Unsworth. The bout was warming up nicely when Amir (9st 11lb 9oz) sustained a cut under the left eye which clearly bothered him. Trainer Carl Greaves immediately set about working on it but the blood flow did not stay stemmed for long.

Some sharp uppercuts and right hands later and referee Micky Vann invited the doctor in for a check-up. He didn’t like what he saw and stopped it at the end of the second. Murray is highly ranked by the EBU and hopefully can now snare a major title shot.

18-year-old super-middleweight Paddy McDonagh took a big step-up for his third paid outing, when seeing off the stubborn challenge of Ciaran Healy over six-threes. Smooth southpaw McDonagh was just that bit sharper and often beat Healy to the punch as the Belfastman rumbled forward.

The variation and pace was all good from Paddy (12st 0llb 6oz), who looked in much trimmer shape and more comfortable than last time I had seen him (admittedly on his debut last November). One highlight came in the fifth round when Healy (11st 13llb 1oz) let out a huge burp in centre ring, prompting laughter and a touch of the gloves from McDonagh.

The feeling at ringside was that Paddy had put out his right shoulder, when throwing a big hook in the final session, but he seemed to recover and took his chance on a big undercard.

Mayo’s Michael Sweeney was supposed to meet Ian Tims in a cruiserweight title affair but when Tims withdrew –and subsequent opponents turned it down- Belfast’s Tommy Tolan stepped in for a four-rounder.

Sweeney (12st 11lb 8oz) used his jab to keep the shorter Tolan (12st 10llb 6oz) at bay and a sweet right hand-left hook combination had him down in the second. But the rugged Tommy, who had been inactive for five years before this bout, overcame fatigue and a swelled left eye to see out the distance. The 40-35 scorecard was academic on Emile Tiedt’s notepad.

In the first of two bouts on the same night, Mike Perez (16st 3llb 4oz) landed his first meaningful flurry and Latvian journeyman Edgar Kalnars (15st 4llb 2oz) was down on his knees. More pressure and the away man was out of there, at 0.48 of the first round. Innovative promoter Brian Peters may have to get him three opponents next time, but at least his second foe Tomas Mrazek offered stiffer resistance.

Mrazek soaked up strong right hooks to the body and showed resolute toughness until a cut developed under his right eye. It seemed innocuous enough and Mrazek’s corner man (who thought it was a head butt) was incensed when the referee decided to involve the doctor and then call it off at 1.48. A rather strange ending but Perez entered the history books none-the-less.

In the swing bout, Galway debutant Alan Donnellan had his hands full at light-middleweight with Lincoln livewire Ryan Clark, over four-threes. Clark’s nose bled from the first round yet he repeatedly found a home for the right hand as Donnellan’s head remained a little static. Alan boxed his way into the contest and claimed a 39-38 victory on Micky Vann’s card – I had it a draw at 38-38.