LAST weekend was a forgettable one for Irish fighers, with defeats on the road for Tommy McCarthy, Conrad Cummings and Paddy Gallagher and a solitary win for Anthony Cacace.
McCarthy’s British cruiserweight title dreams are over, in the short-term at least, after he lost his final eliminator on points against Matty Askin after being put down twice - he’d never been knocked down before at any level - in the fourth round.
The first shot was a booming overhand right after McCarthy had forced Askin into a corner and he followed that up with a ruthless attack - a right uppercut and slashing right hook did the damage - to put McCarthy was down again. The west Belfast cruiserweight recovered well but couldn’t close the gap.
“Tommy started poorly,” said manager Pat Magee.
“He fought his best after the knockdowns because he realised he had a mountain to climb and the longer the fight went on the better he got because Askin had probably been told not to get involved because he had a big lead. Tommy thought he had got a draw but I had no doubt that Askin had won the fight but Tommy used the wrong tactics.”
Magee had expected to announce McCarthy’s British title fight with Craig Kennedy after the contest - Kennedy and manager Chris Sanigar were both at ringside. Askin gets that fight instead and for McCarthy it’s back to the drawing board.
“I had no plan for what happens if we didn’t win,” Magee admitted.
“I believed that Tommy was a league above anyone in the UK and on Saturday night the stage was set. We’re now out of the British title picture - that title will be fought for and if we decide to stay on that track we’re not looking at a fight until the end of 2017, maybe early 2018.
“We have to sit down a re-draw the plan that we had. The whole of 2017 is gone - that’s the reality. It’s not like playing tennis where you’re number one and you lose one and drop to number two. In boxing, if you lose you go from number one to number 15.
“Tommy was ranked 25 in the world on Boxrec, he’s now 40. Askin is now ranked 13. That’s the harsh lesson you learn in this game and Tommy has to take that on board. He had an off-night on his most important fight.”
Before McCarthy’s loss, Cacace extended his unbeaten run to 14-0 with a six-round points win against Nicaraguan Leonel Hernandez: “Anthony only had a couple of weeks’ training but he boxed the head off him and won every round,” said Magee.
“We might even do the same again before he fights for the British title. The question is: When will the British title be? It’ll not be any later than April.”
Meanwhile, last Friday night Coalisland middleweight Cummings looked to have done enough to get the decision against experienced German Ronnie Mittag in a IBF Inter-Continental middleweight title rumble, but lost on split decision and suffered the first loss of his professional career.
Mittag had success early on, but Cummings dominated with the jab and can feel aggrieved at not getting the decision - by at least four rounds - against a middleweight with three times more experience.
His stablemate Carl Frampton said afterwards: “I thought Conrad won the fight. I thought he won it wide, I gave him it seven rounds to three.
“I’m not being biased, I genuinely believe that. I feel bad for him, I genuinely feel gutted. I spoke to him after and obviously he was gutted. It would be a different story if he actually lost the fight but the judges just stole it on him. I think there were a few rounds that were close at the start but I think in the last few rounds he ran away with it.”
Former two-weight world champion Steve Collins was watching from ringside and has backed the former Clonoe and Holy Trinity amateur star to bounce back from the loss.
Earlier, welterweight ‘Pat Man’ Gallagher’s natural power meant he had his moments - particularly early on - against Tamaka Mucha but the Reading fighter took a majority decision with one judge scoring the fight a draw.
BELFAST-based Ronnie Clark has dedicated his British super-featherweight title challenge on Saturday night to the memory of his late friend Mike Towell.
Towell, also from Dundee, passed away after a British title eliminator against Dale Evans last month and Clark hopes to win the belt in his honour.
Clark’s manager Mark Dunlop said: “Ronnie is aiming to put a smile back on the faces of Dundee fight fans following the sad loss of his former stablemate and friend.
“He has dedicated this fight to Mike’s memory.”
Clark takes on Martin J Ward for the British super-featherweight title on Saturday night. ‘The Shark’ (17-3-2), trained by Tony Dunlop at Belfast’s Kronk Gym, will be live on Sky Sports 2 in a Matchroom bill that will also feature the professional debut of Ireland’s Olympic Games golden girl Katie Taylor and he will have to produce something special to dethrone durable defending champion Ward (15-0-2).
Ward won the vacant title after stopping Andy Townend in September and Clark’s manager Mark Dunlop rightly pointed out that the Scot has earned his shot. He expects Clark to take his chance.
“We have been aiming for this contest since September,” he said.
“I manage three of the top 10 in the division so I knew the chances were high of Ronnie getting a shot at Ward. Tony has him in the shape of his life and he is more than ready to take his chance.”
Clark lost a terrific scrap with Anthony Cacace for the Celtic super-featherweight title but has some impressive wins on his card against Nicaraguan Reynaldo Cajina and Hungarian Olympian Norbert Kalucza.
The Scottish super-featherweight champ, who won British, European and world (WKA) titles as a kickboxer says he has no qualms about travelling to London to take the fight.
“Ronnie has an impressive record with draws away from home against current British featherweight champion Ryan Walsh and mandatory challenger Maxi Hughes,” said Dunlop.
SHANE McGUIGAN trained George Groves moved closer to a fourth shot at a world title after earning a unanimous decision victory over Eduard Gutknecht at Wembley's SSE Arena.
The 28-year-old provided the latest demonstration he has rediscovered his finest form when securing his fourth win of 2016 via scores of 119-110, 119-109 and 119-109 on the three judges' scorecards.
Victory leaves him in contention to challenge for the vacant WBA super-middleweight title early next year. He has lost each of his previous three world-title fights but his latest performance suggested he has the momentum required to finally succeed.
As early as the opening bell, the 34-year-old Gutknecht – Kazak-born and Germany based - sprinted to Groves and landed a right hand before receiving a counter.
For much of the opening rounds each maintained a high work-rate while being hittable, but Gutknecht’s ability to close the distance restricted the power in Groves' punches.
Gutknecht is known for an amateur victory over the feared Gennady Golovkin without threatening such a level as a professional. He took numerous big rights from Groves in the sixth, seventh and eighth rounds, displaying good resistance even if it suggested he was being worn down.
Already clearly behind on the scorecards, another intense assault in the ninth saw a significant cut open by his swollen left eye that further reduced his chances of going the distance.
Impressively, he instead succeeded in taking further punishment as the aggressive Groves continued to land with powerful combinations and counters, surviving to the final bell and inevitably dropping the decision.
The victory also means Groves has four wins from four since appointing McGuigan as his new trainer after fighting under county Clare native Paddy Fitzpatrick for the last time last year when losing to WBC champion Badou Jack.
Defeat by Jack had followed two further unconvincing performances after he had impressed despite losing twice to Carl Froch, but succeeding in finally winning a world title next year could prove exceptional timing.
Long-term rival and IBF champion James DeGale faces Jack in the unification fight in January that will establish the 168lb-division's leading fighter.
Should DeGale and Groves continue to win, a rematch six years after their first professional fight would become one of the biggest British match-ups that could be made in 2017.
