The British (and Irish) RBR Returns - Dunne v Martinez and Oakey v Magee

Good Evening folks,

Thanks to good old Setanta the British RBR returns a few weeks before the Witter v Harris fight, with a bill from The Point in Dublin, with Bernard Dunne facing mandatory Kiko Martinez for the European Super Bantamweight title, and Tony Oakey making a dangerous first defence of his British Light Heavyweight title against mandatory Brian Magee.

First up is the main event, and here's my tale of the tape:

Bernard Dunne (24-0, 14KOs) is coming in two months after his comprehensive win over Reidar Walstad in June, where he outboxed a smaller Norwegian to complete his second defence of the European belt. On the face of it, Dunne has much more competitive experience in the pro ranks, with Martinez barely having fought anyone with more wins than defeats. After an early career toughening up and fighting in the US, Dunne has impressed against European opposition, especially with his defeat of Pickering in claiming the vacant Euro belt, and in beating Walstad, where he showed that he could keep punching for 12 rounds, and avoid getting caught despite being prone to keeping his hands low.

Kiko Martinez (16-0, 13 KOs) is pretty much an unknown quantity, at least to me, but has an impressive reported 40 win streak in the amateurs (38 KOs) along with his fine early record in the pro game. However, the Spaniard will be making his first visit outside of Spain to fight, and will find the partisan atmosphere at the point a very different proposition to fighting before an audience of Spaniards against largely unheralded opponents. Only four of his sixteen opponents have held reasonable records with more wins than defeats, but I expect him to try and get Dunne out of there early with his reported heavy hands. Otherwise...the inevitable points decision or late stoppage would seem to be on the cards.

In the main support to the Dunne/Martinez fight is my favourite matchup of the evening, which sees new British Light Heavyweight champion Tony Oakey travel to Dublin to make his first defence of the title he won in May, with a final round stoppage of Steve Spartacus. The feature that most media have tagged on to in this fight, is that it is the first time a British title fight will be hosted outside of the UK. However, here's the downlow on the fighters:

Tony Oakey (24-2, 6 KOs) finally claimed the biggest title of his career in May, after winning WBU and Commonwealth titles back in the day, before he was slapped with a 12-month ban from the sport. Oakey was still looking a bit of an unknown force during his comeback fights, and was scheduled to fight Peter Oboh in a fight abandoned less than an hour before the fight, after Oboh refused to step through the ropes. In beating Spartacus, Oakey looked very impressive, outboxing and throwing harder shots than he is renowned for, and will hope to have similar luck against Magee.

Brian Magee (28-3, 19KOs) will be going into the fight as a heavy favourite, despite challenging for the belt, as he is the hometown fighter and has mixed with a higher level of opponents than Oakey. The Belfast man has challenged for a British Super-Middle title before, losing to Carl Froch, and also has defeats against Robin Reid and Vitaly Tsypko on his record. Magee is taller and more of a boxer, but Oakey is strong and hard-working, and we'll see what happens on fight night.

Action starts at 9.30pm GMT, 4.30pm Eastern, and I'm sure the rest of you can do the maths for yourselves. ;)

Thanks Rhun, you know I'm picking the Irish to win these fights but they should be pretty closely contended fights.

cc Rhun, I'm really looking forward to these fights.

Bernard Dunne is one of my favourite fighters to watch and this should be a great fight and hopefully he wins in emphatic style to set up a mega fight showdown with Steve Molitor in Dublin. That's actually one of my most wanted fights in 2008, actually seeing as Hatton and Mayweather and Calzaghe Kessler are already happening I can't think of many fights I'd rather see more!

Okaey vs Magee looks to be a pick'em. Magee has only lost to world class fighters and usually it's very close. Oakey is a pressure fighter and will work Magee hard but I feel he is too small, ironically even though it's Magee whose moving up in weight. At 5 ft 8 Oakey looks like he should be at middleweight rather than light heavy.

I think Magee will wear him down and stop him late or win a hard fought decison.

I'm glad this card is on Setanta, this followed by UFC 74 should be a great fight night.

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Originally Posted by 'Big' Dan McCarthy

I'm glad this card is on Setanta, this followed by UFC 74 should be a great fight night.

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UFC 74 looks great, really rooting for Randy, plus I soooooo want GSP to spark out crazy eyes Koscheck :boxingmatch:

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Originally Posted by superheavyrhun

Good Evening folks,

Thanks to good old Setanta the British RBR returns a few weeks before the Witter v Harris fight, with a bill from The Point in Dublin, with Bernard Dunne facing mandatory Kiko Martinez for the European Super Bantamweight title, and Tony Oakey making a dangerous first defence of his British Light Heavyweight title against mandatory Brian Magee.

First up is the main event, and here's my tale of the tape:

Bernard Dunne (24-0, 14KOs) is coming in two months after his comprehensive win over Reidar Walstad in June, where he outboxed a smaller Norwegian to complete his second defence of the European belt. On the face of it, Dunne has much more competitive experience in the pro ranks, with Martinez barely having fought anyone with more wins than defeats. After an early career toughening up and fighting in the US, Dunne has impressed against European opposition, especially with his defeat of Pickering in claiming the vacant Euro belt, and in beating Walstad, where he showed that he could keep punching for 12 rounds, and avoid getting caught despite being prone to keeping his hands low.

Kiko Martinez (16-0, 13 KOs) is pretty much an unknown quantity, at least to me, but has an impressive reported 40 win streak in the amateurs (38 KOs) along with his fine early record in the pro game. However, the Spaniard will be making his first visit outside of Spain to fight, and will find the partisan atmosphere at the point a very different proposition to fighting before an audience of Spaniards against largely unheralded opponents. Only four of his sixteen opponents have held reasonable records with more wins than defeats, but I expect him to try and get Dunne out of there early with his reported heavy hands. Otherwise...the inevitable points decision or late stoppage would seem to be on the cards.

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CC#649 on me superheavy.
As always good work.

Oh! yeah I'm also gonna make this a sticky. ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by superheavyrhun

Good Evening folks,

Thanks to good old Setanta the British RBR returns a few weeks before the Witter v Harris fight, with a bill from The Point in Dublin, with Bernard Dunne facing mandatory Kiko Martinez for the European Super Bantamweight title, and Tony Oakey making a dangerous first defence of his British Light Heavyweight title against mandatory Brian Magee.

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For those of outside the UK - or inside UK, but with no supscription to Setanta for that matter - RTE is broadcasting the fights live on the internet:
http://www.rte.ie/sport/boxing/2007/0824/dunneb.html

I've taken advantage of this once before, and the streaming quality was really good at that fight. Also, Bernard Dunne came off as an exciting fighter, and the atmosphere at the arena was among the best I've ever seen. So if people have the opportunity, they should allow themselves to enjoy this.

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Originally Posted by Mikkel_K

Quote:

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Originally Posted by superheavyrhun

Good Evening folks,

Thanks to good old Setanta the British RBR returns a few weeks before the Witter v Harris fight, with a bill from The Point in Dublin, with Bernard Dunne facing mandatory Kiko Martinez for the European Super Bantamweight title, and Tony Oakey making a dangerous first defence of his British Light Heavyweight title against mandatory Brian Magee.

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For those of outside the UK - or inside UK, but with no supscription to Setanta for that matter - RTE is broadcasting the fights live on the internet:
http://www.rte.ie/sport/boxing/2007/0824/dunneb.html

I've taken advantage of this once before, and the streaming quality was really good at that fight. Also, Bernard Dunne came off as an exciting fighter, and the atmosphere at the arena was among the best I've ever seen. So if people have the opportunity, they should allow themselves to enjoy this.

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Yup, well spotted Mikkel, I've also used the RTE webcast to watch the last two of Dunne's fights, and I have always found it to work very well and is of good quality.

Top fella Mikkel, CC#32. 8)

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Originally Posted by CutMeMick

Top fella Mikkel, CC#32. 8)

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Always glad to be at your service :army:

Now if only I had the time to see the fight myself tonight...

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Originally Posted by Bilbo

cc Rhun, I'm really looking forward to these fights.

Bernard Dunne is one of my favourite fighters to watch and this should be a great fight and hopefully he wins in emphatic style to set up a mega fight showdown with Steve Molitor in Dublin. That's actually one of my most wanted fights in 2008, actually seeing as Hatton and Mayweather and Calzaghe Kessler are already happening I can't think of many fights I'd rather see more!

Okaey vs Magee looks to be a pick'em. Magee has only lost to world class fighters and usually it's very close. Oakey is a pressure fighter and will work Magee hard but I feel he is too small, ironically even though it's Magee whose moving up in weight. At 5 ft 8 Oakey looks like he should be at middleweight rather than light heavy.

I think Magee will wear him down and stop him late or win a hard fought decison.

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So Bilbo, come worl Title fight time will we be seein ya in dub for the celebration?
Dunne should take this one, but i would like to see the hands up a little more against a puncher like Martinez as Dunne although easily beating Reidar Walstad, did encounter problems when tagged in the final round.

Can't really explain why I'm picking martinez to win this fight as Dunne is bigger, more experienced, and has faced better opoosition. Doesn't make much sense, but i'm sticking with it.

I've got Martinez to win too.

CC Rhun,

I'm going puttin a few squids on this fight. Obviously the smart money is on Dunne, but the upset would be profitable.
1/3 Bernard Dunne 9/4 Kiko Martinez 20/1 Draw

Oh well, RTE wont work for me I'm in U.S.A. is there a sopcast channel? This fight starts soon?

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Originally Posted by No Contest

Oh well, RTE wont work for me I'm in U.S.A. is there a sopcast channel? This fight starts soon?

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The broadcast starts in around 15 minutes or so.

CC for the coverage.

yes,......it will be available to the american audience. the only reason the last one wasnt available to usa was because it was ppv tv in the states.

http://www.rte.ie/

ive a half a weeks wages on B-Dunne

Okay, the action is getting close to starting in Dublin, and I think we have Tony Oakey's defence of his British Light Heavyweight title coming up first.

Magee is given a decent reception on his short ringwalk...though many of the seats around the ring still look empty at the moment. Oakey coming in to the ring to a much more subdued welcome, to his favourity "oakey cokey" music. He just hopes that Magee won't be dancing at the end. Boom Boom. Next up it's fight time.

Sweet its up now, I guess before I was just not allowed to watch the news which was on at that time ;)

Great quality stream too ;)

Round 1:

Magee with a jab straight combo early doors, but they're swapping cagey jabs. Clinch, then they both swing left hooks as they break. Straight from MAgee, then a body shot returned by Oakey. Trade another pair of jabs. Both showing lots of movement. Magee clips in a short left, then Oakey puts in a right to the body as they clinch. Nice jab from Oakey, but Magee pings in two right hooks to the body. Magee's not punching down so much at the moment, skimming a few off the top of Oakey's head. Magee with a decent flurry.

Close round, call it a tie.

10-10

Round 2:

Oakey lands a left hook, not too much behind it. MAgee lands two to the body. Oakey jabbing away. Oakey's following his punches in, and Magee finding it difficult to throw. They have a bit of a back-of-the-cinema grope. Right up top, then to the body from Oakey. Another straight right from Oakey. They trade, with right hooks and a body shot from Magee, and Oakey landing too. Uppercut on the inside from Oakey, then Magee hooks a couple to the body. Straight right on the bell...and Oakey edges it for me.

20-19 Oakey

Round 3:

Good straight right from Oakey opens Magee's guard up again. He's pressing forward, and Magee not able to throw too much at the moment, lands to the body though. Some of Oakey's jabs fall short, and Magee puts a dig to the body. Two body shots from Magee, and a couple of hooks in the clinch. Oakey's right eye damaged, looks like it happened during a clinch. Oakey still piles forwrd, with shots to the body, and a jab up top. Good straight right again. Good counter jab from Magee, but another straight from Oakey. Magee pushed in the corner, and Oakey lands again. Magee looks to be cut too on his right eye.

Oakey playing the champions role well,

30-28 Oakey

Round 4:

Left hook to the body from Oakey, and a straight right. Magee ducks out of an Oakey flurry, leaving him swinging at air. Oakey is wasting a lot of jabs that are falling short, but Magee lands a couple. Body shot from Oakey. Magee lands a pair of nice left hooks as Oakey comes in. Oakey comes forward unperturbed, with another body shot. Magee still looking to circle the ropes, and let Oakey chase him down. They have a clinh on the ropes. Oakey lands a left, but Magee jabs and lands a right hook of his own. Magee with another right hook. Oakey swinging to the body. Big flurry, with Magee getting the best of it.

Better round for Magee, and he's finding his range when Oakey is coming in.
39-38 to Oakey.

Round 5:

Oakey with a left hook, then they have a bit of a wrestle, with Magee pushing Oakey ack to the ropes. Nice pair of body shots from Magee, and Oakey is missing a lot more. Jab and body shot from Oakey, but good jab straight pair of shots from Magee. Body shot lands from Oakey. Big left hand from Magee, and OAkey looked a litle shaky for a second. But then ploughs forward with a body shot and a straight right. Nice right from Oakey again, then one to the body. Jab caught on the gloves, but Oakey puts in a jab to the ribs of Magee. Nice left hook clips Magee. Magee with a counter jab.

Oakey shaded that one, but it's a fairly even fight so far.
49-47

Round 6:

Although Oakey is throwing a lot of jabs and looking busy, a lot of them are falling short and being caught on the gloves. However, a few bodyy shots land from him, then a rising left hook. Magee with a jab straight, then two body shots in his best flurry so far. Ref has a word with Oakey. Nice right to the body and jab from Oakey. Magee's not doing enough. Oakey lands a jab, and although a one-two lands from Magee, Oakey puts a right to the body. Overhand right from Oakey nearly hits some guy in a pub in Belfast. A bit of a wrestle again. Body shot from Oakey.

Oakey again shading this round, workrate getting it for him.
59-56

Round 7:

Into the second half, and Magee looks busier, popping off two jabs as Oakey lunges in. Body shot from Oakey, then a bit of a clinch. Magee started this round quicker. Jab left hook from Magee. Oakey leads with a jab into a clinch. Wrestle. The head movement from both has slowed a lot from early doors. Body shot from Oakey. Magee with two hooks to the body. Nice left from Oakey. Magee digs back in to the body. The long right to the body from Oakey is an important weapon so far. Dig to the body from Magee, which Oakey returns. Nice right hook from Magee.

Magee's best round for a while.
68-66 to Oakey

Round 8:

Magee cuffs Oakey twice on the way in. Right hand lands from Oakey. Body shot, but Magee returns a jab as Oakey comes in. Magee jabs, then backpedals out of range. Oakey takes a flurry on his guuard, then opens up a right overhand. Good combo of short hooks from Magee, but Oakey still coming forward. Nice right from Oakey. Oakey might be landing 1 in 4 of those jabs, but it keeps Magee going back. Magee with a counter jab, but Oakey lands to the body, before a clinch. Right to the body, then two short hooks up top in the clinch. Magee jabbing back. Nice straight left from Magee, then a jab on the way out. They trade hooks up top.

Oakey landed a few more, despite some bright spots from Magee.
78-75 Oakey.

Round 9:

Into the final third, and Magee just isn't doing enough to take the title from Oakey at the moment. Oakey comes out leading with jabs, then throwing a left hook to the body. Clinch. Oakey lands a left, then ducks into a clinch. Magee lands a decent right as he backpedals. Oakey spoken to again by the ref. They trade hooks on the inside of a clinch. The pace of the fight might be setting in, as they clinch. Magee shoves his head into Oakey face, and a cut below Oakey's right eye now. Body shot from Oakey. Good left hand from Magee.

Tight round, but Magee still not landing often enough to match those that Oakey's putting in.
88-84 Oakey

Currently they are showing the Lee fight, C'mon Magee pick it up ;)

Round 10:

Left hook from Oakey, as Magee skirts the ropes. A few more of Oakey's shots are being batted away by Magee, but he's still landing a fair few. Binding on magee loosens, and everybody has a breather. Nice left hook inside from Magee, ater he blocked a Oakey hook. Magee still looking to counter. Body shot from Oakey. Jab and body shot from Magee. Counter jab as Oakey comes in from Magee. Oakey with a reasonable left. Magee with a couple of jabs, then they clinch. Oakey caught with a right as he goes in, then a body shot, but returns some short hooks within the clinch. Oakey jabbing. short hooks inside yet another clinch from both men.

Magee edged it for me in this one.
97-94

Round 11:

Ref has a word about the holding and clinching at the start of the round. Oakey misses, then they clinch and Oakey with a little dig. Magee with an uppercut on the inside. Oakey falls short, and Magee jabs. Body shots in yet another clinch from Oakey. This is getting even messier now. Magee ducks under, then a hook and some body shots from Magee. Magee looks to work, and pops three short body shots from close range. Magee catches Oake on the wa in again, body shots on the indise from Oakey. Good straight right from Oakey, but Magee pops off a few short shots. Two body shots from Oakey. Magee with a jab and a body shot, and he's definitely upped his workrate in this round.

Magee's round...at the moment though it's Oakey's fight.
106-104

Magee may get the home cooking on the cards? Lee looked real impressive again. Healey cant continue after the fourth...massive right hooks to the body took their toll.

Round 12:

They both drive in as the ref moves out of the way. Oakey swings and misses, and Magee pounces to land a hook and a body shot. Another clinch. Magee bats away three jabs, but Oakey works to the body. Oakey's looking to lunge in and cliunch before Magee can counter. They trade body shots, and Oakey's getting a little wild, he looks very tired now. Nice right hook from Magee, but Oakey returns the same punch. Magee digs in four body shots inside, whilst Oakey digs with his short hook. Terrible clinching now. Magee lands a counter hook, then a body shot and another hook, Oakey throws to the body. Oakey's not landing anything much in this round. Another wrestle. Magee with more body shots.

Magee's round, but I have it by a solitary round to Oakey.
115-114 to Oakey.

Very tough attritional fight on the whole, and they share a few words as the judges swap the cards. It doesn't seem an especially vocal crowd yet at The Point, but who knows what it takes to sway the judges. Oakey a lot more cut up than Magee.

Scores are:
113-116 Magee
114-114 Draw
114-114 Draw

A majority draw...which seems remarkable to me. But Oakey just does enough to hang on to his belt. JUST.

The decision for a draw is still strange to me, as I saw Magee do very little in the first 9 rounds to suggest he would have picked up many rounds. They're now showing highlights of the Lee v Healey fight on Setanta, and I'll be back shortly when the main event gets under way.

It's showtime. 8)
Kiko looks like a brawler, like one of those tuff guys that just comes forward.