Dylan McDonagh rues late notice after giving top Matchroom prospect a serious scare

Dylan McDonagh had just four days to prepare but turned in an eye-catching performance on Sky Sports last night.

Drafted in at the last minute as an opponent in the chief support bout of the JD NXTGEN card at the Ice Arena in Wales, McDonagh certainly put it up to double Commonwealth medallist Sean McGoldrick [7(2)-0].

Indeed, the Jobstown bantamweight feels, with a bit more notice, he could have got the win.

Fighting in what was his first eight rounder, McDonagh won two rounds and was given a share of another two en-route to a competitive 78-76 points defeat.

‘The Firecracker’, in the early rounds especially, was given big credit, pressuring and at times outworking McGoldrick, with his left hook to the body being particularly potent.

What a performance from the ‘Tallaght Firecracker’ @DylanMcDonagh07 on SKY Sports

Deserves so much credit for taking a fight with a guy as good as Sean McGoldrick at only a couple of days notice and putting in a performance like that. I thought he nicked a draw. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 pic.twitter.com/lhIXwrsfgQ

— BOXING IRELAND PROMOTIONS (@LoveIrishBoxing) August 5, 2018

So competitive was the fight, some were suggesting a rematch afterwards while McDonagh was included in McGoldrick’s post-fight interview on Sky Sports.

The 33-year-old admitted afterwards that his preparations were far from ideal and reasoned that, with better notice, he could have even pulled off the shock.

“I think it was okay for four days,” said McDonagh who accepted the defeat with good grace.

“I just want to thank Eddie [Hearn] for giving me the chance, and Matchroom Boxing, I hope to come back on these great shows, it’s been a dream come true.”

Making the point about notice, McDonagh [3(1)-1(0)] outlined how “if I had a full camp behind me, I know I would have stepped on the gas in there.”

“There were times I couldn’t step it up because I hadn’t got enough notice ”