Photograph: Irish-boxing.com
Watching Eamonn Magee Jnr move inside and ruthlessly dispatch a usually durable opponent in explosive fashion was, to say the least, impressive. Almost inevitably, comparisons with his multi-talented father followed the Holiday Inn debut victory on June 6.
Stepping off at angles and unleashing spitefully accurate combinations from a languid southpaw stance was something that Magee Snr was so adept at throughout his 12-year career. Magee Jnr, however, is not concerning himself with such talk. The 21-year-old is instead keen to ensure that people remember his punches rather than just his name.
“I’m out to prove myself and make a name for myself,” he affirmed, just moments after dismissing Hungary’s Zoltan Horvath in two rounds.
“The first minute was the nerves of my debut but once I got on to my jab it was fine. Willie [Thompson, trainer] was saying in the corner to jab, jab and straight left hand; I couldn’t miss him with that. I saw his legs buckle and I went for the finish. I thought the referee had actually called it off the first time but I could see in his eyes that I had him hurt so I went in for the kill.”
38-year-old Horvath is the type of veteran that knows how to last the distance. His come-forward, no-nonsense approach had been in full display at the Devenish venue on May 10 when the visitor boxed another debutant, Paul Hyland Jnr. Magee was in no mood to let his man adopt those same spoiling tactics and subsequently set about punishing him whenever a clinch seemed imminent.
“In the first minute he rolled in with his head and clipped me on the nose and that made me weary. I just enjoyed it, I felt sharp and my reactions were quick enough. I was up sparring Paul Hyland who fought him last time and he told me he was a nightmare. I had it in the back of my mind that he was going to come and spoil the fight and make it a rough night for my debut. But after I hurt him I wasn’t going to let him go.”
Now that his maiden victory is in the record books Eamonn wants more of the same. With a few more displays of this nature it shouldn’t be too difficult to grab a space on future small hall shows – regardless of his surname.
“I’m not too sure when I’m out next but there might be a show in Dublin next month that I could get on to. If not then I’ve been speaking to Mark Dunlop and he said he’ll definitely get me out in September,” concluded Magee Jnr.
