McCloskey stopped by Corley

Published Sunday, 06 May 2012

Paul McCloskey was stopped by DeMarcus Corley in the 10th round of their big fight at the King's Hall in Belfast on Saturday.

Corley lands a shot on McCloskey. (© Pacemaker)

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GALLERY

The Dungiven light-welterweight was rocked by a strong right hand from the veteran American fighter, prompting referee Ian John-Lewis to step in and end the bout.

McCloskey's camp protested the decision, which comes after the controversial stoppage he suffered to Amir Khan last year, and which dents his world title ambitions.

But Corley never looked in trouble during the fight despite entering as the outsider and frequently landed shots on the local fighter in the early rounds.

An out-of-sorts McCloskey was left bloodied after he was clipped on the nose but came back into contention in the sixth and seventh.

His 37-year-old opponent started to show his age in the eighth and ninth rounds as a sequence of quick shots from the Dungiven man landed - but then came the stoppage which gave former world champion Corley the victory.

"It's a disappointing night for the boy," show promoter Eddie Hearn told UTV. "He wasn't at the races and he'll be the first to admit that.

"To come up against a world class fighter, if you're not at the races you're going to get beat - it's a tough game."

Meanwhile unbeaten Commonwealth gold medallist Eamonn O'Kane battled his way to the £32,000 Prizefighter jackpot.

O'Kane got the unanimous decision against JJ McDonagh.

"I'm delighted," he told UTV, after the hard-fought victory.

"When I heard about Prizefighter I thought 'this is risky', but I'm delighted to come out as winner.

"It was such a rough and rumble night, such a hard fight, and a good performance in the second one and a messy one in the final but I came out on top."

Comments

2 Comments

John Robinson in Drumahoe wrote (379 days ago):

Corley was what is termed a 'journey man' boxer not really known to be a winner, he would be picked to give a better fighter like Mayweather a good warm up fight. What i'm saying is that when Paul couldn't put up a convincing show against him then somethings lacking. Since the Khan fight he has not looked the same boxer, his handlers took the decision to stop that fight too quietly. Paul needs a world class trainor, John Breen is fine when it comes to British & European fights, world titles are a step too far. He reminds me of Charley Nash's manager back in the 80s, he did well for Charlie when it was British & European titles aswell, but first shot at the world title against Jim Watt at the Kelvin hall in Glasgow in 1981 saw Nash KO'd in round four. He (Nash) also was never the same afterwards getting stoppped again in Dublin to an unknown Italian called Joey Gibalisco. I felt sorry for Paul after the fight and do feel his dream has now gone for ever. John in Drumahoe.

disappointed fan in ards wrote (379 days ago):

paul i dont know what you were at? you had no trouble with this guy then you seemed to let everything go, your hands dropped down and he could get at you?if you carry on like this you will have no chance fighting for the title?you know deep down that you gave him too much chances?maybe it was a hard lesson for you but you can bounce back.