Fagan survives early scare to floor Latvian Ivanovs' lofty ambitions
TWO rounds were all Oisin Fagan needed to finish off Latvia's Juris Ivanovs on the undercard of the world title bill on Saturday night.
But it looked bad for the gritty Dubliner, a former Irish lightweight champion, as he was dropped in the first round by the rugged visitor who connected with a solid left hook which forced Fagan to take a standing count.
When the action resumed, Fagan went after his man and with 10 seconds left in the round, he floored Ivanovs with a fast left-right combination. In the second, the Dubliner put Ivanovs down again with a hard left hook just before referee Mickey Vann intervened after 63 seconds into the round.
Irish featherweight champion Patrick Hyland also had a stoppage win when he beat Spain's Manuel Sequera in the sixth after referee Emile Tiedt stepped in after just 33 seconds of the round. The Dubliner was always on top, and had floored Sequera in the fifth with a smashing left hook.
On a night of stoppages, Michael 'The Storm' Sweeney simply blew away Limerick lightheavyweight Jamie Power in three rounds and immediately sent out a challenge for Jim Rock's Irish title. Power, who was cut on the left cheek, was down once in the first and twice in the second before referee Vann called it off.
Tyson Fury, the 6ft 9in Manchester heavyweight whose father comes from Galway and whose grandmother was from Tipperary, used a fast, stinging left jab to collect the points and earn a 60-57 decision against resilient Czech, Tomas Mrazek, over six rounds.
Fury often mixed his punches with sharp right uppercuts and left hooks, but it was his solid jab that kept Mrazek at a safe distance. The Czech had a good last round and landed some solid blows, but Fury had the fight won by then.
In a six-round welterweight bout, Lurgan's Stephen Haughian and Albert Starikov of Estonia boxed a 57-57 draw, and Dublin middleweight Anthony Fitzgerald beat Lithuania's Tadis Jonkus 39-37 over four.
- Thomas Myler
