24-year-old super lightweight boxer Pierce O'Leary won the fight in Dublin, putting in the most well-rounded performance of his career to beat Darragh Foley on points.
Foley (22-7-1, 11 KOs) started as a southpaw and used his front foot to keep the powerful O'Leary (15-0 (8 KOs) at bay, but O'Leary responded quickly, delivering a hard right punch to the body and a powerful uppercut to Foley.
A well-chosen right uppercut dropped the 35-year-old Foley to the mat in round two, and O'Leary was masterful, using his excellent head movement to create openings and then making the most of each one.
Foley is a tough guy and after clearing his head he traded blows with O'Leary in the third round. It was not a wise decision and he was hurt by some powerful and accurate strikes to the head and body.
O'Leary was performing well, mixing aggression with patience and never letting up on attacks to the body, and in the sixth round, as Foley began to lose his balance and crumble, he landed two left hooks that hurt Foley.
Foley recovered relatively well, fighting to stay alive and not letting O'Leary lose confidence, but instead of staying back and letting O'Leary push forward, Foley began to try to push O'Leary back. While it didn't change the tide, the change made it harder for O'Leary to land clean strikes. An accidental clash of heads in the eighth round left both fighters with cuts above their eyes.
O'Leary kept going for ten rounds, keeping Foley on his toes with precise combinations, but a tough and determined Foley held on until the final bell, maintaining his record of never being stopped, even though he never looked like he'd won.
The scorecards were 98-91, 98-91, 99-90.
Belfast featherweight boxer Colm Murphy recorded a solid but hard-fought victory over Glasgow's Jack Turner.
The ringside doctor stopped the bout in the 10th and final round after determining that the 6-foot-2 Turner had suffered cuts over both eyes from an accidental head clash and was unable to continue.
Somehow, Murphy, currently 12-0 (4 KOs), was adjudged the winner by technical knockout in a bout that should have been decided on the scorecards.
The tall and bulky Murphy dominated the early stages of the bout with long straight shots and was able to push Turner back against the ropes at will. Once backed against the ropes he landed punches and Turner struggled with Murphy's energy and activity.
Turner seemed to accept his fate and began to focus on looking for opportunities to land counter punches during Murphy's attacks rather than fighting to avoid being pushed back. The Irishman's work rate began to drop slightly in the fourth round and Turner found it easier to land punches regularly, but suffered a cut above his right eye after a hard clash of heads.
Murphy's corner told him to step it up before the seventh round, and he did so, increasing the power of his punches and making it much harder for Turner to win. Turner frequently complained about head clashes throughout the fight, and in the eighth round he suffered another nasty cut above his left eye.
Turner survived two medical examinations but was examined by the doctor for a third time with 90 seconds remaining, resulting in a premature end to the bout.
The 24-year-old Murphy, better known as “Posh Boy”, fought tough, tough fights to extend his unbeaten record.
Hadiel Herrera's British debut lasted just 161 seconds, but the Cuban super featherweight was still hugely impressive.
The 21-year-old Herrera, who trains in Liverpool under Joe McNally, quickly found his rhythm early on, rocking the head of Colombian Andres Navarrete (11-2, 2 KOs) with his southpaw jab. Herrera was too big, too strong and, most importantly, too talented, and he quickly stunned Navarrete with a devastating left hook to the jaw. Though Navarrete remained on his feet, the bout was over, with referee Mark Bates quickly stopping the bout.
Herrera, 15-0 (13 KOs), looks extremely talented and dangerous.
Champs Camp protégé Joe Cooper (1-0) took to the center of the ring in his professional debut against Colombia's John Henry Mosquera (5-14, 1 KO). The 18-year-old super welterweight used his jab to control the pace and won by a 40-36 unanimous decision after four rounds.
Cork native Stephen Cairns (8-0, 5 KOs) stopped Jonathas de Oliveira (6-11, 5 KOs) in just 56 seconds. The 22-year-old lightweight boxer backed de Oliveira against the ropes and attacked the head, evading the Brazilian's defenses before quickly switching to the bottom and landing a deft left hook to the body that sent de Oliveira to the floor.
Jack Turner (7-0, 6 KOs) had won six straight fights in the first round to start his career, but had to content himself with a knockout of Darwing Martinez (8-21-2, 6 KOs) in the first three minutes of their four-round bout.
The 22-year-old bantamweight from Liverpool showed sharp striking, scoring regularly with quick one-twos, including one that put Martinez down at the end of the first round.
Martinez got up and hurt Turner's lunges several times, bruising and cutting him under his right eye, but he was thwarted by Turner's quicker punches and was hit with another right in round 3. Contrary to his record, the Nicaraguan was a solid fighter and fought back undefeated in the fourth round, landing some good punches on Turner.
Turner's incredible stop streak may be over, but he should have learned a lot from tonight's play.
