There were wins for three Irish boxers earlier this evening at the Red Cow Hotel. Craig O’Brien opened the show with a 40-36 victory over Bulgaria’s Asen Vasilev. Light-middleweight O’Brien made his size and reach advantages work for the most part and peppered his opponent’s body with well-timed flurries. Podgy Vasilev, a well-travelled veteran, used his ring smarts to tie and smother and both men tired slightly as the bout wore on.
Despite this only being his second pro fight there are definitely signs that O’Brien has some skills to work with. Emile Tiedt officiated.
Gorey heavyweight Niall Kennedy enjoyed a 40-36 points success over Ugandan survivor Moses Matovu. Kennedy introduced a crisp, sharp jab from the start and landed enough variety to keep Matovu on his toes. The Belfast-based visitor displayed all of the feints and moves from his usual bag of tricks to keep referee Emile Tiedt at bay – not that Kennedy ever looked like stopping or troubling his man. Trainer Paschal Collins implored his charge to keep throwing his range-finder and to ignore the antics of Moses.
Kennedy has skills and a bit of pop to go with it. Don’t we just love a good heavyweight to get excited about?
All-action welterweight Gerard Whitehouse went to war with Bulgarian brawler Teodor Stefanov and prevailed 40-36 on Emile Tiedt’s scorecard. Gerard threw plenty of leather to please his excitable following while Stefanov spoiled as much as he could to get through.
