By Allan Donnellan March 31st, 2008 All Boxing Articles
Saturday, March 29. For the first time in his career Paul McCloskey was taking charge of a ship, one which belonged to a fleet of Brian Peters' promoted boxing events taking place in recent weeks.
McCloskey was calm in the build up. One assumed that with his first big occasion looming ahead of him, the Derry man would have displayed some nerves or apprehension. Instead, the week preceding the fight presented a Paul McCloskey who smiled politely at the fights mention and mingled easily with the press.
Opposing him, Cesar Bazan, a fighter who had been a world title holder at lightweight, fighting with passion in each bout and in the Mexican spirit, was not going to surrender, even at a time when his greatest achievements are memories now overshadowed by his losses to greater, more notable opposition.
Indeed, his opposition had been well documented in the fightʼs promotion. With over half a century of fights on his record, Bazan had never ran from or alluded any opponent. His record contains a couplet of losses to two truly great fighters in fellow Mexican Jose Luis Castillo and the Puerto-Rican Welterweight sensation, Miguel Cotto.
For Paul McCloskey, this elevation in the level of competition would serve as his certification. With a successful result, McCloskeyʼs professional apprenticeship would be complete and he could begin to advance into the fistic world.
The fight itself was a joy for any journalist. Every round was incredibly similar and if one were to pen a detailed report of the first round, the author could easily pass it off as a report of any of the nine rounds that followed. More...
