Craig McCarthy suffers stoppage defeat on Khan-Brook card

Craig McCarthy’s breakout opportunity ended in abrupt and disappointing fashion tonight.

The Waterford favourite provided interest on the Amir Khan – Kell Brook undercard and was hoping to make the most of the spotlight with an impressive performance.

However, he was caught cold and early by Bradley Rea and suffered a first-round stoppage defeat live on Sky Sports.

The 34-year-old former Irish title challenger found himself on the wrong end of a Rea flurry early on, was dropped heavy and counted out.

It’s a disappointing result for the Deise middle who had planned to use the platform to inject serious momentum into his career.

What Built2Last decides to do next remains to be seen but there was talk of a Summer fight night in his home county before the defeat to Manchester’s ‘Sting Rae’.

The win see’s Rea move to 12-0 while McCarthy drops to 8-1-1.