The Carl Frampton-Kiko Martinez rematch was one of the biggest fights in Irish boxing history. Frampton beat Martinez comfortably on points to take the IBF super-bantamweight title. Below is my scorecard. Do you agree or disagree? Have your say and let me know how you totalled the big fight.
Luke Keeler tucked a solid six rounds under his belt at Dublin’s Red Cow Moran Hotel on Friday night. The middleweight outpointed Laszlo Kovacs 59-55 on referee Emile Tiedt’s scorecard. Keeler was guilty of over reaching in the first two rounds and throwing a few too many heavy, looping blows. Luke’s aim was to blast Kovacs out of there and send his legion of supporters home happy but the Hungarian visitor was made of sterner stuff.
Jamie Conlan had his hands full with sprightly Mexican Jose Estrella on the Titanic Showdown undercard but managed to eke out a unanimous victory. Scores of 97-93 (twice) and 99-92 enabled the Belfast super-flyweight to take away the WBO inter-continental belt. Estrella pressed the action throughout and was not easily deterred, making it a tough night’s work for Conlan who also suffered a cut.
Marc McCullough posted his most impressive victory to date when the Belfast featherweight forced Dmitry Kirillov’s corner to retire their man after eight punishing rounds. Marc made a successful defence of his WBO European title in the scheduled 10-rounder.
The first fight was an intriguing clash of styles. Kiko Martinez swaggered in to Belfast with his European super-bantamweight title but left empty handed after being comprehensively knocked out by Carl Frampton on a cold February evening at the Odyssey Arena. Now they will do it all again, in an impressively constructed outdoor venue on the Titanic Slipways in early September. This time Kiko arrives with a world title and promoter Barry McGuigan reckons that his man will once again strip the Spaniard of his prize asset. The Cyclone Promotions head man is expecting the fight to be even better than the first and a scrap befitting of the fantastic 16,000 capacity venue.
Belfast super-featherweight Anthony Cacace has spoken of how a chance encounter with Barry McGuigan led to him signing with Cyclone Promotions and landing a spot on the Titanic Showdown undercard. Despite a promising start Anthony’s pro career stalled after a move to Philadelphia failed to work out. Now he’s training with the McGuigans and hoping to bag a British title shot after tonight’s rust-shedding fight with Poland’s Dawid Knade.
Mexican super-flyweight Jose Estrella has landed in Belfast and is itching for a good scrap. The Tijuana boxer quickly accepted the call to face local favourite Jamie Conlan on Saturday’s ‘Titanic Showdown’ extravaganza and the Latino slugger has been swotting up on his opponent in the meantime.
Sergio Martinez is in Belfast and expecting his namesake to keep his title and upset Frampton, writes Steve Wellings
FORMER world middleweight champion Sergio Martinez is confidently backing his namesake Kiko Martinez to retain the IBF super-bantamweight title on Saturday night. Speaking in Belfast ahead of Kiko’s defence against local favourite Carl Frampton at the Titanic Quarter, Sergio reckons his charge can end the fight inside the distance.
With the big fight all set to take place tomorrow evening, we have put together a list of the “Titanic Showdown” articles and audio interviews compiled on Irish Boxing Review so far. Click on the headline below to access each piece.
Date: September 4, 2014Author: Steve
Comments: 1 Reply
In the lead-up to Carl Frampton’s huge headliner this Saturday night Irish Boxing Review have been digging through our photo archives to find some choice snaps of the Belfast world title challenger.
The first photograph is of Carl with Bobby Lavery and Cormac Campbell collecting his Boxer of the Year award.
The second set of photos is back in Midland ABC as Carl sharpens his tools on the pads with Barry McGuigan.
The third set are from the Europa Hotel as Carl joins the likes of Stephen Haughian and Jamie Conlan on the undercard of Paul McCloskey’s European title defence against Italy’s Guiseppe Lauri.
The fourth set are from the Ulster Hall where promoter Barry McGuigan was busy announcing a six-fight deal with Setanta Sports in the Ulster Hall. Frampton only fought there twice as it happened, beating Yuri Voronin and Gavin Reid. Limerick’s Willie Casey was being lined up as a future opponent but to date the fight never materialised. Casey, his trainer Phil Sutcliffe Senior are in the photos along with Gerry Storey and Fergus Lavery a businessman who was heavily involved with ‘Team Jackal’ at the time.
The fifth and final set are back in Midland boxing club, Tigers Bay when Carl renewed acquaintances with former amateur rival David Oliver Joyce, this time as part of a high-quality sparring session.