“He wouldn’t stop and let me hit him!” – Paddy Barnes looking at bigger picture following Scottish win

Away from the pressures and glare of fighting in Belfast, Paddy Barnes [4(0)-0] gave the most impressive performance of his short pro career on Friday night.

The Cliftonville flyweight fought on the MTK Scotland ‘Capital Collision’ card at the Meadowbank Sports Centre in Edinburgh and claimed a six round points win.

Barnes had fought negative journeymen in his first two fights before a risky jump up to ten rounds and into the unknown to win the WBO European title against Silvio Olteanu. On Friday it was a warm-up fight against a game opponent in Peruvian Juan Hinostroza – an opponent who allowed Barnes to properly show some of his arsenal..

Although, Barnes still took issue with the South American’s survival tactics and joked afterwards that “I hurt him a good bit, and if he had stood there with his hands I would have hit him more. He was very awkward, he wouldn’t stop and let me hit him, it wasn’t fair!”

“He’s a weird southpaw, we kept clashing heads. I had my hands up, ready to load up, but everytime I threw he’d lunging in across with the head, it was dangerous.”

The Belfast 30 year old, ranked #14 by the WBO, downed Hinostroza with a right counter in the second, the first knockdown of his pro career, and was in high spirits post-fight.

The fight served a purpose for Barnes, sharpening him for a defence of his rankings belt on November 18th at the SSE Odyssey Arena on the ‘Frampton Reborn’ bill.

Having previously spoken of not wanting to peak too soon in training, the double Olympic bronze medalist was happy that “I got six rounds under my belt and I’m not fit, like.”

“I wanted the knockout, but I wanted the rounds as well, the rounds are more important.”

“But then in the fifth round I was tired like f*ck and thought ‘why didn’t I stop him!'”

“Bigger picture, it’s all about the next fight, keeping me well for the ten rounder.

Barnes had been due to face the winner of Saturday night’s Spanish flyweight title fight between Moncho Miras [9(3)-0-1] and Aramis Torres [7(3)-0-1], but this clash ended in a draw leaving uncertainty over next move.

Photo Credit: Ricardo Guglielminotti – The Fighting Irish (@ThefIrish)