FEARGAL McCrory lived up to his ‘Fearless’ nickname but the Tyrone battler fell short in his bid to win the WBA super-featherweight title in Washington on Friday night.
Southpaw McCrory hardly took a backward step as he kept the pressure on Lamont Roach but the defending champion rocked McCrory with left hooks in rounds one and two and another well-timed left hand sent the Irishman to the canvas in the third.
McCrory’s corner urged him to “keep swinging” and “come through the storm” but Roach targeted the body and a salvo of uppercuts sent the challenger down again before the end of the fourth.
Showing remarkable reserves of courage and physical conditioning, McCrory fought back over the next two rounds but ‘Reaper’ Roach would not be denied. He gave McCrory a torrid time of it in the seventh and, after a straight right hand had set up another barrage in the one-sided eighth, McCrory’s corner called it off.
“My next goal to conquer is unification so any champion watching this, just know I’m on yer ass,” said Roach afterwards.
In Belfast there was disappointment for Conor Quinn who lost for the first time in his career against England’s Conner Kelsall. The unbeaten flyweights went head-to-head for the Commonwealth title and Kelsall won on majority decision at the SSE Arena.
The undercard included wins for Pierce O’Leary, Colm Murphy and James McGivern who produced the punch of the night to knockout Rashid Omar in the second round of their Celtic lightweight contest.
E