Donegal’s Hutchinson Successfully Gatecrashes America

Unbeaten Donegal light middleweight boxer ‘the Buncrana Banger’ John Hutchinson continued the flying start to his pro boxing career with a sensational points win over American Robert Brando-Hunt in front of a voiciferous Irish-American crown at the Irish Cultural Center in Canton, Boston on Saturday night.

The rugged 26-year-old was re-entering the Lion’s Den having previous fought out a Technical Draw with hometown toughman Brando-Hunt for the Greater Boston Light middleweight title back in July this year, but it was a different script in Canton as Hutchinson’s boxed to orders to outwork and outpoint his foe earning a 40-36 points victory over four rounds which improves the Inishowen slugger’s record to 5-0-2 and takes him a step closer to his dream of an Irish title.

Hutchinson, who prepared for the fight in Birmingham with trainers Jon Pegg and Soggy Counihan, enjoys a massive groundswell of support from the Massachusetts’ Irish community but the Donegal boxer did not let the crowd get into his head as he thwarted Brando-Hunt with an educated jab and punishing body shots throughout.

“Hutchie really wanted to take this fight. He felt the Technical Draw in their first fight was a blot on his copybook and wanted to set the record straight this time. Most boxers would’ve forgotten about it and wanted nothing to do with that guy again but John had to ‘scratch the itch’ and prove he could beat this guy at boxing and not just brawling,” explained manager Leonard Gunning.

“In their first fight Hutchie was too eager to please the crowd which included Irish boxing legend Sean Mannion and top rated Irish-American southpaw Danny O’Connor, who carried the Irish flag into the ring for John before the fight. He was too pumped up and rushed his work to try and get Brando-Hunt out of there as quick as he could to please the crowd.

“In his haste the pair clashed heads and the fight was stopped because of the bleeding to Brando-Hunt’s head. Hutchinson should have been declared the winner but as there wasn’t enough rounds completed to go to the scorecards.

“What has pleased me most about this win is that he had a game plan, kept to it, and that paid dividends. He loves boxing in Boston, it’s like a home from home for him out there and hopefully we’ll be back again soon because the support is great there.”

Fellow Inishowen fighter Michael McLaughlin Owen also appeared on the Canton bill and snatched a six rounds point victory in a thriller with Colombian Sergio Cabrera. Both men visit the canvas before McLaughlin was announced the 57-54 winner on the scorecards.

“I’ve been taken aback by the support in Boston, the local Glasgow Celtic supporters club and Irish bars have all been behind me and I’ve been made very welcome but I had to be selfish in the ring this time and pick Hunt apart instead of trying to blast him out of there. We’ve been working on ironing out some flaws in Birmingham and I was determined to put them into practice tonight,” explained the former Illies Golden Gloves slugger.

“We’ve some great boxing talent in Donegal and they’re finally being recognised. Willie McLaughlin is making waves in the World Series of Boxing, Danny Mulhern and Joe Duffy are doing great in the pro ranks London and Michael McLaughlin was in the fight on the night here in Boston tonight to extend his unbeaten run.

“But Jason Quigley has just raised the bar for us all. I’ve watched all his fights at the World Championships out here on the internet and he went from strength to strength. Even though he narrowly missed out on Ireland’s first ever Gold medal at the World Championships I thought he did enough to win.

“His final was just a few hours before I got into the ring, and just seeing his success gave me an extra buzz, he is truly world class and deserves all his success. There is more to come from him I am sure,” added Hutchinson.

Saturday nights win in Boston edges Hutchinson a step towards a shot at the Irish title in 2014 but first up is a date closer to home when he appears on TOP Promotions ‘Rock and a Hard Place’ show at the Holte Suite, Villa Park in Birmingham on November 23.

The bill features a host local Midland’s talent and is headlined by the clash of local welterweights Sam Eggington and Dave Ryan with unbeaten prospects like Michael Rooney, Sullivan Mason and Carl Dickens bringing more quality to the show and will have the fight between Carl Froch and George Groves on a big screen.

Tickets for John’s bout on ‘Rock and a Hard Place’ at the Holte Suite in Birmingham are £30 for unreserved seats and £60 for VIP table seats including buffet and are available by calling 079 85 646 187 or via TopBoxing.net.