By Brendan Galbraith – In the first of the Setanta Ireland’s televised fights Lurgan Welterweight Stephen Haughian returned from his recent Celtic Title loss to Scotland’s Kevin McIntyre, in a six-rounder to face tough Birmingham Dee Mitchell. On paper this was going to be testing fight for Haughian, who was on the verge of a British Title fight prior to his loss to McIntyre, as he needed a good win to restore his confidence and get his career back on track.
The fight was a competitive nip and tuck affair, with both men exchanging leather making most of the rounds fairly close. However, the cleaner punching and busier work rate came from Haughian. The fifth round was Mitchell’s best shift with both men going toe-to-toe and the Birmingham fighter just edging the scoring..
At the end of this six-rounder, referee Paul McCullough raised Haughian’s arm – the official score card 59-55 in favour of the delighted Lurgan man.
In the chief support to the main event, the talented Belfast Flyweight Jamie Conlan (3-0) faced Bulgarian journeyman Hyusein Hyuseinov (2-8).
In the first round Conlan executed his well-drilled signature punch – right hook to body that was disguised beautifully behind the jab. Conlan continued to work well setting up head combinations behind a sharp jab. In the second Conlan exerted more pressure forcing the Bulgarian onto the back foot with a slick variety of shots, scoring crisp right uppercuts and stinging body shots to the liver and midriff. In the third Conlan continued his onslaught, this time landing two beautiful left hooks to the top of Hyuseinov’s jaw. Sensing a stoppage, Conlan stalked the Bulgarian, firing home a one-two head combination and signing off with a decisive left hook to the liver.
Referee, Paul McCullough had seen enough of this increasing one-sided affair and stopped the fight at 1.54 in the third round to the delight of the well-supported Belfast man. This was Conlan’s first live televised appearance and he made sure that it was an impressive one, showcasing a full arsenal of punches. Conlan progresses to 4-0 including two stoppage wins courtesy of hurtful body punches.
Afterwards the affable Conlan told Setanta Ireland anchor, Paul Dempsey:
“I was fairly pleased, I was happy with the way I was landing the body shots and the uppercuts, he was tough enough”.
Conlan also acknowledged the quality sparring with his gym mate, the slick EBU Lightweight Champion Andy Murray and his talented amateur boxing brother, Michael Conlon, who, incidentally will soon be competing in the Commonwealth Games.
Trainer, John Breen pointed out that two former World Flyweights, Dave Boy McAuley and Duke McKenzie had both expressed their approval of Conlan’s silky skills, adding, “He will be ready to fight 12 rounds next year in March or April for a British or Commonwealth Title”.
A final word in his Setanta interview went to wishing his father (who also worked Jamie’s corner with Breen) a happy birthday. Indeed, it is doubtful that his father could have wished for a better present than to see his son record an impressive stoppage win on his television debut.
Two other undercard fights that were not screened on the live Setanta Ireland television show, Greene-Sciven and James-Senkovs, plus the televised swing bout Keane-Mehmed are covered (below) courtesy of Steve Wellings from irish-boxing.com:
By Steve Wellings – Journeyman Matt Scriven doesn’t get stopped too often and was expected to provide a stubborn test for Lurgan light-middleweight Ryan Greene. One thing to note is that Greene’s power is the real deal. Scriven was dropped heavily in round four by a double right hook and used his ring smarts to last the pace, against heavy fire. Greene looked more composed than in his debut and picked the shots well to keep his man on the running track.
Scriven, from Nottingham, threw the occasional wild right hand to try and offset Ryan’s rhythm but in the main it was the 26-year-old Greene in full control although he took a couple of left hands throughout the duration. Scriven was in pure survival mode and skipped his way to the finish, conceding a 60-53 verdict on referee Kenny Pringle’s scorecard.
Coventry super-featherweight Troy James outscored Latvian survivor Pavel Senkovs 60-54 in the opening bout. Smooth mover James used his skills to keep the away man honest and Senkovs suffered a nosebleed in the third-round. Troy worked the body well and Pavel was sagging but too savvy to be stopped.
In the swing bout (that took place after the main event) Walsall light-heavyweight Chris Keane had the task of defeating plucky Tayar Mehmed in a four-threes test. Keane consistently tagged Mehmed’s podgy belly, especially with the right hand. The Midlands stylist is neat and tidy and puts his punches together well, landing with authority. Mehmed did well to last the distance with Keane recording a shutout 40-36 victory.
*Setanta Ireland – Best of the Frampton undercard Wednesday from 10pm.
*Setanta Ireland subscribers can subscribe online at setanta.com/ie or call 0818 20 30 40 (Republic of Ireland) or 0871 277 0393 (Northern Ireland)