Khan dominates McCloskey but the ending is unfortunate

Amir Khan successfully defended his WBA light-welterweight title at a packed MEN Arena in Manchester last night after Paul McCloskey was ruled unfit to continue in the sixth round due to a cut.

The cut was caused by an accidental clash of heads so under WBA rules, the fight went to the scorecards, including that of the incomplete round. Judges Howard Foster, Dave Parris and Terry O’Connor all had Khan winning every round, 60-54.

It was an unsatisfactory ending. Once the contest was waved off and McCloskey left alone for a few seconds, blood was coming down his face from a split left eyebrow near to his nose. Cuts of this nature often end contests when the resulting blood flow impedes vision and this might have been one of those.

The regrettable thing is that the cut didn’t seem of such severity that it should have prevented McCloskey’s corner being given one chance at the end of the sixth round to stem the flow - but they weren’t afforded that privilege.

European champion McCloskey (9st 13lbs) looked very confident from the first bell – but he also looked very slow in comparison to the blistering hand speed of Khan. He really has one of, if not the, quickest pair of mitts in the sport today. Regardless, ‘Dudey’ still held his hands low, unworried.

Khan (9st 13lbs) got through with a right hand over the top in the second and was generally more active at the start of the session without causing too many problems for McCloskey. Then the champion rattled home a flash right and a left-right combination. The Ulsterman got through with a right hand of his own and took a left hook counter, but McCloskey remained unconcerned. Indeed, not for the last time in the contest, the Dungiven man, who should copyright the phrase ‘awkward southpaw’ after last night, made Khan miss badly.

Unlike any of the judges, I gave McCloskey a share of the third round. Khan was looking to attack but McCloskey had a spell walking after him, and oozed confidence. He might not have been doing a huge amount himself but he didn’t seem at all put off by Khan’s forays. The champion was smothering his own work at times. McCloskey got through with a right hook and then tried to annoy Khan by tapping him on the back of the head.

Khan seemed determined to set a fast pace from the start of the fourth. McCloskey lunged in with a right hand and tumbled to the canvas; he then missed with an uppercut and shipped a left hand counter. Khan’s best shot of the night thus far came via a well-timed right hook. Everything McCloskey did in response was greeted with two consistent things – a wall of roars from his thousands of supporters and a tight Khan guard.

McCloskey was certainly trying harder in the fifth but Khan, not having his best night, was still better and quicker. A left hook got the Dungiven man’s attention but the best punch of the whole fight was a straight right from Khan which appeared to momentarily stun the challenger. Khan topped it with an accurate combination but McCloskey dug in.

Another rapid Khan combination combined with McCloskey’s hands down stance made matters look worse than they probably were at the start of the sixth round. The challenger fired back but again looked slow in doing so.

Then came the head clash and the regrettable ending. Referee Luis Pabon called the doctor over who advised the contest should be halted.

Barry Hearn and John Breen, McCloskey’s promoter and trainer respectively, were incensed and for a while there was some argy-bargy at ring centre post-fight. Hearn did his best to talk up a rematch, saying McCloskey had unfairly had his dreams taken from him, that if Khan had any decency about him he’s agree to a return bout, and that the referee was inept.

A rematch surely won’t and, indeed, shouldn't happen. Although on paper Khan won a shutout, he didn’t look great in doing so and it was a voluntary defence anyway. And in a sport where controversies come by the week, this was really one which should register quite low on the scale.

Yes, McCloskey’s corner should have been given the chance to stop the cut and the fighter the chance to box on. But in the previous six rounds, a non-vintage Amir Khan was still quite clearly the better man and the challenger did little to indicate anything was going to change.

Not really the point and it will be scant consolation to the fighter or to the thousands who travelled across the Irish Sea to make it such an occasion. They’ll always say ‘What if?’.

One should not forget it was an unsatisfactory ending for Amir Khan too. You can guarantee he would have preferred to have continued too. Khan is now 25-1, McCloskey 22-1.

Craig Watson’s short reign as British welterweight champion came to a crushing end as a piledriver of a straight right from Lee Purdy left him in no position to continue after 40 seconds of round five.

Manchester’s Watson (10st 6lbs) looked determined, sharp and committed but was taking more than he should have done. He seemed to be the better boxer of the pair and perhaps Purdy (10st 6 ½ lbs) knew this as he regularly waved Watson on, aiming to drag him into a scrap. Purdy landed a right hook in the first which annoyed Watson who replied with an accurate combination.

Having given Watson the opener, I scored the second level. Watson was more accurate but Purdy was undeterred and marched forward, having some success with his right. This pattern continued in the third but every time Purdy got through, Watson answered with something as good or better.

Purdy just wouldn’t be denied and yet again in the fourth it was his right hand that was his most useful weapon. The Colchester man relentlessly marched on, waving Watson in and the now former champion is not one to turn down an invitation. There were some good exchanges and the round went to tough guy Purdy on my card.

Early in the fifth round, Purdy threw a ramrod straight right which hit Watson flush and dropped him heavily. Watson rose immediately and instinctively but clearly didn’t know where he was and referee Phil Edwards rightly waved matters off. A cracking contest while it lasted and this is a rematch we should see. Purdy improves to 15-2-1; Watson drops to 20-4.

I’m not a fighting man personally but I do recognise one when I see one. One has to say that Martin Murray is one tough hombre. He must be towards the top of the list when it comes to ‘Men whose pints ought not to be spilled’. The St Helens monster (11st 3 ½ lbs) made short work of Brazilian John Anderson Carvalho (11st 3lbs), stopping him with what looked like a left hook to the body in the fourth round. In doing so, he defended his WBA International middleweight title for the first time and moved to 22 unbeaten.

Carvalho came to fight, initially at least, and Murray employed a tight guard in the opener, which was shared. Murray upped the ante in the second, keeping the visitor on the ropes for a spell and hitting home with an eye-catching straight right. Carvalho tried the same tactic, pressing Murray to the ropes in the third, but the Lancastrian turned him, twice, and had more success with his straight right.

The writing was on the wall early in the fourth as Murray threw in a meaty left hook, then a cracking uppercut. Carvalho’s early impetus quickly drained. He seemed to go down in instalments in a neutral corner from Murray’s hook to the body. Carvalho’s corner wildly gestured for him to get to his feet but he seemed to have no intention of doing so. As a result, he’s now 21-5-1. Time, 2:20.

Martin Murray, despite winning Prizefighter and the Commonwealth title, hasn’t had the fanfare a lot of other domestic prospects have enjoyed. Indeed, perhaps he’s benefited from that. But he certainly deserves more credit and more attention. The next two years should be big ones for him.

Domestic fight fans are used to seeing East European imports who don’t come up to scratch. One who certainly doesn’t make this list is Belarussian Andrei Isaeu (8st 9lbs) who gave Leicester’s Rendall Munroe (8st 9 ¾ lbs) a tough outing. Isaeu was fit, game, determined and not without skill. Not unlike Munroe himself then. Munroe prevailed by unanimous decision - Luis Pabon 116-112, Terry O’Connor 117-112 and Dave Parris 115-114. The latter tally came closest to my viewing, 116-114. He’s now the owner of the WBA International super-bantamweight belt, which had been vacant.

I gave the man from Minsk rounds two, three and the final two. Munroe took the majority of the middle rounds but most of the sessions were close and followed a similar pattern, with Munroe the better boxer for the most part. When Isaeu won a round, it was because he outworked Munroe – and the incredibly fit binman doesn’t let that happen too many times. Not a particularly entertaining fight and mainly devoid of any highlight reel footage. Munroe keeps on the right path though, moving to 22-2. Isaeu might very well be back to the UK, is now 23-3.

I saw Ireland’s Andy Murray in the flesh for the first time back in 2005. It was his third professional outing and he scored a 40-36 shutout against Silence Saheed. Murray looked fantastic then, one of the best novice pros I’ve ever seen. Fast forward six years and after decisioning Blackburn’s Graeme ‘Dezzi’ Higginson 78-75 last night on referee John Latham’s card, the Cavan man is now 24-0.

In truth, he wasn’t very impressive and if he has any pretentions of mixing in world class company, he’ll have to do better than this. Then again, the man who Murray fancies facing, his European champion namesake John, had exactly the same experience recently and nights like this do come along. Murray is better than this but still chalked up another win.

The Irishman (9st 10lbs) took the opening two rounds, boxing quite nicely albeit cagily. He looked accurate in the second, a right cross snapping back Higginson’s head. But by the end of the session, Dezzi (9st 9lbs) was digging in which reflected he wasn’t in the mood to do the visitor any favours.

Higginson, supported by a vocal pocket of fans, took a close third on the front foot before Murray snatched a tight fourth. It was turning into a good fight and Higginson certainly fancied the job – the fifth saw some good exchanges and was very even. Murray’s better class became apparent in the last two rounds. The Blackburn scrapper kept going but Murray just eased away, beginning to put his punches together a bit better. Referee Latham’s tally seemed bang on. Dezzi drops to a deceptive 13-9-1.

Another Khan was on the bill, Bradford’s Tasif (8st 11 ½ lbs). He beat Mansfield’s favourite Latvian, Pavel Senkovs (8st 13lbs) by 40-36 on Mike Alexander’s card. Senkovs did OK and I actually gave him the nod for the third round. Khan moved nicely and put some nice combinations together to move to 5-1-2 whilst Senkovs added a 32nd loss to his log against two wins and two draws.

Sheffield’s heavyweight prospect Richard Towers moved to ten unbeaten with a routine win over another Minsk man, Raman Sukhaterin. The Belarussian quit after the fourth round. Boxing to orders from trainer Dominic Ingle, Towers took his time over the first three rounds and did as he liked off the jab. Sukhaterin was content with the slow pace and intermittent attacks and clutched Towers often when the space between the two shortened. Towers was obviously instructed to pick things up at the start of the fourth and clearly enjoyed a bit more freedom. He got through with a few hefty blows, especially to the visitor’s midriff, and Sukhaterin obviously took less pleasure in this more active version of Towers. He wisely packed it in after surviving the session and is now 7-17.

The start time for the bill published earlier in the week was 6.15. I was seated by 6.10 but a late change to the running order meant I’d already missed the appearance of Towers’ super-bantamweight stablemate, Kid Galahad. The Sheffield youngster won his sixth contest by way of a 40-36 shutout against Merthyr Tydfil’s Dai Davies, the Welshman finishing with a cut (now 6-16-1).

One other fight was scheduled to take place after the main event (which coincided with my exit) - Gary Buckland v Oscar Chacin; result to follow shortly on the main BoxRec site.