**TONS OF EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS**
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The March 18th Sports Network fight card was a great event to attend, despite the fact that the scheduled Joe Calzaghe-Brian Magee WBO super middleweight title bout was cancelled and London’s super featherweight sensation Kevin Mitchell's opponent dropped out with the flu. I was lucky enough to go, |
and each match-up on the bill was a mini-drama in it's own right and downright competitive. In each instance, a raucous St. Patrick's Day weekend crowd backed local fighters to the hilt and except for Neil Sinclair, they all went home victorious. A good time was had by all, with Eamonn Magee's third round destruction of Allan Vester the highlight of the night. So come along for the ride as SaddoBoxing.com presents a night at the fights at historic King's Hall in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
| Before the bouts started all the technical personnel from Sky TV and staff from Sports Network were busily going about their duties. The ringside photographers were chatting away the time before they were to belly up to the ring apron and start the process of taking thousands of pictures of the night's fights. |
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The hall itself was just starting to fill up and it was plain to see what a great place the venue was to take in a night of fistic fury. Similar in layout to London's York Hall but larger, King's Hall for most British fight fans is where Barry McGuigan made his home base twenty some odd years before. |
| After ring announcer Michael Pass welcomed the fans to the venue and gave a rundown of the night's line up to come, the crowd hushed as he prepared to introduce the first set of combatants. |
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Local Belfast fighter Stephen Haughian (white trunks) was set to make his professional debut against journeyman James Gorman, a pressure fighter who always gives his best but lacks true power in his punches. The bout starts off with Haughian trying to keep the veteran at the end of a good jab. |
Gorman doesn't stop trying to get close to the taller novice and with determination bores in, scoring well but taking punishment as well from the more skilled Haughian.
| The rounds go by with the two going at it full force. Gorman has Haughian slightly hurt a few times but the youngster seems more taken aback by the hot pace and the relentless pressure than anything else. Eventually Haughian resumes control by establishing the jab. |
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By the fourth and final round, the Irishman has pulled far enough ahead due to some gritty bodywork and good combinations to gain the referee's decision and win the close contest 39-38.
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Next up we had another local novice making his debut, Andrew Murray, (blue trunks) who was scheduled for a four rounder against opponent Jon Jones. Murray was much taller than Jones and while still a bit raw, the kid from Belfast had good fundamental grounding. |
| Jones was on his bike from the start as Murray advanced tactically with guard held high. |
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When Murray did get within range he would land hard combinations as the rabbit-like Jones tried to counter but lacking power to his punches, the smaller man had to be constantly moving. |
| This scenario worked much better for Murray as Jones' face began to show the marks of over-exertion and too many punches taken. |
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In the end, Jones' bravery and willingness to trade were just not enough in the face of a bigger and better fighter. Murray's edge in every department took their toll as he caged the referee's decision,leaving his opponent to the care of his corner-man tending to several cuts.
Michael Pass announced the next pairing, which featured local heavyweight and former British amateur ABA champion Martin Rogan (orange trunks) against journeyman Billy Bessey. The crowd, now well into the spirit of the evening, was really ratcheting up the volume of support.
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Of the two, Rogan looked to be in much better shape than Bessey and started the fight in earnest, stalking the cautious opponent. |
| The Irish favorite didn't have an easy time pinning down Bessey however, who was much lighter on his feet than would have appeared to be the case judging by his physical condition. |
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What quickly became apparent was that Bessey was quite good at clinching Rogan anytime the two got close. To combat this, "Big Rogie" would beat at the opponent's side with his free hand but it never seemed to bother Bessey to the point that he would miss an opportunity to grab. |
| Inevitably, Rogan's higher quality would allow him to get Bessey into position to dish out some punishment before the inevitable clinch would take place. |
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The opponent was not without bite however, as Rogan discovered that he had to use a bit of caution while approaching Bessey. At the end of the day, Rogan had won every round and was to no one's surprise declared the victor 40-36.
The next bout was probably the most difficult to judge of the night. Dublin favorite Jim "The Pink Panther" Rock (pink trunks) had the much better record and was the reigning Irish middleweight champion. Michael Monaghan, from the English Midlands, had the reputation of a spoiler but was also somewhat of a journeyman. It was apparent from the start that Monaghan was presenting the upright Rock with angles, deep bends along with sudden starts and stops as they eyed each other in the first round.
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As Rock advanced or waited for Monaghan to make a mistake, the Englishman would dart forward and suddenly produce a flurry of punches. In particular, a quick overhand right missed very little during the bout, producing a nasty swollen black eye on the Dubliner. |
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In turn, Rock had little trouble finding the target however as Monaghan's defense was nothing near as tricky as his offense. |
While some felt Monaghan had done enough to win, Rock's steadiness and higher quality work won out over the opponent's awkward tactics and busier style producing a 78-74 points victory.
| In the next bout, we had former British welterweight champion Neil Sinclair, another local product, set to go up against Welshman Taz Jones. Sinclair had never lost his title in the ring but was coming off one of the long periods of inactivity, which seems to have dogged his career. |
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The crowd was nearing fever pitch at this time as Sinclair had the reputation as a big puncher and Jones had been talking up the fight in the press in the buildup. Clearly, this was expected to be a worthy co-feature to Magee-Vester.
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Jones (black and red trunks) wasted little time as he came to grips with Sinclair in short order. |
| The audience roaredas the two swapped hard punches with abandon, impressing everyone with their competitive fire. |
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Soon the action was in the near corner and Jones was bulling inside on Sinclair as the two continued to throw at close quarters. |
Suddenly Sinclair's head appeared to be covered in blood. The referee quickly brought the former champion over while corner-man Dean Powell cleared the cut above Sinclair's hairline. The referee ruled the action could continue but as the laceration was gushing, the ringside physician was brought in for a look.
| The fight was halted and while the crowd was disappointed, no one who could see the amount of blood that was flowing from the wound questioned the decision to stop the contest. |
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Part Two of this fantastic in-depth Belfast photo report Tomorrow
Richard Eberline can be reached at richardeberline@fastmail.fm
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