Headliner Hylo – “I was training to do ten rounds, but that’s even better”

Paul Hyland Jr [14(5)-0] has been training hard since before Christmas and it all came together in devastating fashion last night.

The Lagmore lightweight topped the MHD Promotions ‘Inquisition’ card at the Europa Hotel in Belfast and saw his fight with Giovanni Gallovich stopped in just 41 seconds.

Hyland downed the stocky Hungarian early and saw the bout waved off inside the first minute of a scheduled 30. It is now hoped that the Belfast crowd-favourite will secure another fight inside the next few weeks.

‘Hylo’ himself admitted afterwards that the manner of victory was something of a shock and noted how “I was training to do ten rounds, but that’s even better getting stoppage in the first round, I just caught him early.”

“I’m surprised that it didn’t go a bit longer, but he dipped right into the shot. He was a lot smaller. The gameplan was to work behind my reach, but I threw the uppercut and he dipped right into it. His eye was all swelled up after. I saw him rocked so I jumped on him.”

“I was expecting to do the ten hard rounds, but I caught him early and it still paid off, all the hard sparing and training.”

While the opponent did not turn out to be too strong, he was a massive unknown quantity going into the fight, and one that Hyland was happy to put away early. The 26 year old described how “he was undefeated, and I didn’t know much about him, so we didn’t know what we were stepping in to and I didn’t want to take any chances.”

Hyland, who has recently switched from the Boxing Union of Ireland to the British Boxing Board of Control, now wants to be pushed on, and said that “it’s a step up now for the next one.”

“I believe in myself, I believe I can take on whoever’s put in front of me. I put in a good training camp, I get good sparring, my dad keeps me in great shape in the gym, I’m confident.”

“Mark [Dunlop, manager], hopefully, will get this British title on track. I’m confident, whoever I fight, whoever he can get me matched up with, I want that British title.”

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Eric Donovan joins Gavan Casey and Joe O’Neill on Episode 2 of the Irish Boxing Show: