LIVE UPDATES – Katie Taylor Homecoming Card

Big-time boxing is back in DUBLIN.

Katie Taylor tops a heavily Irish-influenced card at the 3Arena tonight and Irish-boxing.com will be providing live reports from each and every fight.

There are fights for Kate Radomska, Paddy Donovan Thomas Carty, Caoimhin Agyarko, Dennis Hogan and Gary Cully on a the Matchroom card.

Boxing is scheduled to begin at 5:45 and we will be providing fight-by-fight updates as well as a full-colour report on the main event.

Refresh page to see live updates:

FIGHT 1

A career-best performance wasn’t enough for Kate Radomska in the opening bout of the evening.

The Munster lady showed huge improvements to push a fancied Matchroom prospect in Maisey Rose Courtney close.

The war-loving flyweight showed a more skilled approach than usual and was more than competitive against the Londoner but ultimately came out on the wrong side of a close 58-57 card.

Radomska was full of endeavour in the opening stanza but seemed a little caught between styles and was out-thought and fought by the Matchroom prospect.

The Waterford native started to land the left hook Irish amateur legend, Joe Ward was calling for early in the second, forcing Courtney to switch stance and leading to a much closer second.

The same shots were having success early in the third, Courtney was having success when she got inside but Radomska was landing big single shots, much to the delight of her corner. The English fighter was now aware she was in a fight.

The 22-year-old Londoner took a volume approach to try to take any momentum from the Deise Pole. It worked to some degree although two right hands in the final few seconds caught the eye.

The fifth was competitive and entertaining Kevin Mitchell trained Brit starting well but Radomska had success when she managed to put distance between.

The massive Ryan Burnett fan was impressing off the back foot in the sixth, walking her foe onto some crisp shots. The talented Courtney kept coming, was enjoying the test, and drew blood in the final 10 seconds.

Radomska slips to 3-2, Courtney improves to 3-0.

FIGHT 2

Paddy Donovan showed just what the hype was about with an eye-catching victory in the 3Arena.

The Limerick southpaw proved himself the perfect blend of fight and flair, that he has as much strength as style, and that he can mix power and panache as he stopped Sam O’Masion in his second successive fight in Dublin.

‘The Real Deal’ lived up to his billing, with an educated and clinical beat down of the recent British title challenger.

The Andy Lee trained light welter, who came into the fight as a free agent, dominated from start to early finish getting the job done within six to inspire the first big cheer of the night.

Donovan looked comfortable off a languid and varied lead hand in the first round. Certainly looked at home under the lights.

The fighter Andy Lee heralded as a bigger puncher than Tyson Fury brought his backhand into play in the second and began to test the whiskers of the English fighter.

The panache ‘The Real Deal’ is known for was also on display, it was anything but brute force with varied and well-timed power shots added to his arsenal. To his credit, O’Maison was trying to fight back, but the British challenger found himself outclassed.

Possibly sensing Donovan had the power to end it, O’Maison had a go early in the third but started to find himself getting picked off and hurt by the Limerick southpaw, who turned on the style right in time for Eddie Hearn’s ringside arrival.

Donvoan’s fight and flair was on display as he moved through the gears in the fourth. Solid jabs prompted blood to run from the nose of the away fighter while clubbing backhands had the increasing crowd asking how the Sheffield native was still on his feet.

The fifth was a little more methodical from the OLOL graduate as he looked to find the perfect finisher, he looked to have found it on a number of occasions but O’Maison’s chin was holding up.

The sixth looked to be following suit but a big right hand hurt the English fighter and sensing blood Donovan went for the finsih.

O’Maison hit the deck, rose to unsteady legs and his corner saved him from taking any more unnceessary punishment.

Donovan moves to 11-0 with 8 knockouts.

FIGHT 3

Thomas Carty has looked every part the headline act as he claimed a first career title tonight.

Granted Carty was always expected to beat Scot Jay McFarlane but did so in an eye-catching style.

Indeed there was a sprinkling of stardust to everything the big Dub did from ring walk to early finish.

His introduction got the party started, the reception proving he has support, does numbers, and even has the potential to be a headline act.

More importantly, the Celtic Warrior Gym fighter did it in the ring, ‘Running this Town’ like his ring walk music suggested he would. The sole Dub on the card dropped the former Scottish three times en route a third-round stoppage win.

He now makes the short trip home with a BUI Celtic title in tow and is one step closer to becoming the first Irish heavyweight champion since Tyson Fury.

After a reception worthy of any headline act Carty made an assured but calm start. Ignoring McFarlane’s play-acting he got his southpaw jab into play, found his range, and landed the first backhand of the fight.

The simple one-two his corner was calling for worked a treat early in the second putting McFarlane on the seat of his pants. The first knockdown of the night also inspired the first Ole Ole as the 3Arena and Dublin watched the birth of a star.

The Irish Boxing Awards Prospect of the Year kept his cool, and didn’t go all out for the finish, listening to the ‘loads of time’ screams from his corner for the remainder of the stanza.

The third round was following a similar pattern in the third until Carty landed another one-two with 15 seconds of the stanza remaining.

McFarlane got to his credit rose to his feet but just when it looked like he would make the fourth he was revisiting the canvas again, this time stunned with a left hand and dropped with a short right hook, prompting referee Paul McCullough to wave the fight off.

FIGHT 4

Caoimhin Agyarko made a successful return from injury in what was his pro Dublin debut.

The Belfast talent ended 10 months out of the ring by winning all 10 rounds against Dennis Grant.

‘Black Thunder’ didn’t quite roar back with a knockout but shut out a solid pro to get solid rounds in his first fight since a hand operation.

Agyarko did flirt with the finish in the sixth but Grant did the job he was picked to do and gave his former sparring partner rounds.

After winning the battle to establish his jab in the first half of the first stanza, Agyarko started to assert his dominance further. The Belfast European title hopeful began to look for spaces around the high guard, bringing in impressive work to ensure he won the stanza and left some damage.

Chatham native Dennis enjoyed a better second round keeping the Holy Trinity graduate guessing with a long fainting reach. The Belfast fighter still took the stanza but his opponent grew a little in confidence.

The Liverpool-based fighter tried to close the gap in the third and added more snap to his jab. It created more openings but Dennis was remaining competitive, looked busy and landed one nice uppercut during the session

The following two followed a similar pattern before Agyarko started to move through the gears in the sixth. Two sharp right hands established his dominance and one left hook induced a crowd groan.

Agyarko upped the tempo while sitting down on his shots in the seventh. The right hand again rocked his foe with the left hook up and down stairs doing damage. Grant, who screamed the Matchroom prospect on at one stage, found himself pinned against the ropes late as Agyarko went for a volume finish but the English fighter held firm and made it to round seven.

The pace slowed in the next three-minute session and Agyarko landed some single shots as did his Grant in fairness. The roof raised between rounds as Katie Taylor was shown on the big screen.

There was no knockout for them to cheer over the final two rounds as Grant brought the exciting prospect in his first fight in 10 months. Agyarko moves to 13-0/

FIGHT 5

Dennis Hogan’s homecoming wasn’t a happy one.

‘The Hurricane’ finally got to live out his dream of fighting at home in Ireland but neither the bout nor the result played out as he’d have fantasized.

The 38-year-old lost his IBO light middleweight title to JJ Metcalfe after 12 hard-fought rounds.

The first session went as expected. Hogan using his jab and footwork to negate the advancing son of ‘Kid Shamrock’ Shane Neary.

The Hurricane’s work was cleaner and more regular but Metclaffe, who himself dreamed of fighting in Ireland, did fire one warning shot in the form of a big right hand.

The second was similar although Hogan did throw with more purpose and used a long lead effect hook to good effect.

The challenger found passage past the champion’s jab early in the third session and a fight threatened to break out. Metclaffe landed a right hand and got shots off on the inside, although the Kildare fighter’s response was enough to discourage an all-out swarm. Not to mention Hogan wasn’t long about getting back to the game plan, which enabled him to land the cleanest right hand of the stanza.

The away fighter in terms of the country but the home fighter in terms of promotion, Metclaffe managed to close the distance further in the fourth. He still found Hogan tricky to pin down but would have been content he was making the Kildare native work for the entire round.

Hogan made the fifth that bit scrappier pulling out his awkward best to try get back on top but did have to fight fire with fire at the tail end of the round.

A right hand sent the Irish fighter stumbling to the ropes and a clash of heads opened up a cut over his eye in a sixth round that finished with a flurry

A certain Conor McGregor was screaming for the 38-year-old to let his right hand loose in an entertaining seven. Hogan did start to land it but by that stage it was more of a scoring shot, while his opponent’s right hands had more weight behind them.

Hogan managed to reestablish the distance in the first minute of the eighth and it brought success but Metclaffe was relentless and his pressure was such by the end of the round that the crowd felt the Irish fighter needed their support.

By that stage Hogan was still landing crafty shots but Metcalfe looked the aggressor and the physically stronger. The tenth gave Irish fans hope as Hogan did what Hogan does best, got his fast-fire double jab off, and let his feet do some talking for him.

He still had to deal with pressure though, which played its part in leading to a sloppy and even grueling penultimate round.

The war of attrition continued in the 12th and final round with Ole Ole the battle cry. True to the nature of the fight both enjoyed successes but the docking of a point for Hogan looked like it could prove crucial.

FIGHT 6

Jose Felix Jr did his best Kiko Martinez impression at the venue where the Spaniard beat Bernard Dunne.

The Mexican delivered on his promise to leave Eddie Hearn upset, shocking and stopping Gary Cully in the chief support bout to Katie Taylor versus Chantelle Cameron.

Felix Jr, who dropped Tyrone McKenna in a war he eventually lost in Belfast two years ago, caught the Belfast man’s gym mate cold in the third to quieten a bouncing 3 Arena and register a massive career win.

Felix Jr, who was massively aggressive on his last trip to Ireland was up on his toes and happy to circle away from the southpaw backhand that got Cully early stoppages in his last five fights.

It led to a tentative almost feeling out round. The Mexican continued to smirk as if to hold two fingers up to Cully’s reputation in the second and backed up his confident look with some good work. One big looping left hook got his corner off their feet and he looked to work the long midriff of the 6’2 fighter.

The one time Cully did land it looked like he had the power to hurt the game-away fighter. However, it was Cully who got hurt in the third. A left hook put the popular Kildare fighter on the seat of his pants, he rose to extremely unsteady legs and never really recovered.

Felix Jr went to work, and while Cully was brave and did well to hold, a shock stoppage looked on the cards. A few more clean shots later and the Pete Taylor-trained fighter was fighting off instinct. Taking a knee possibly would have been the best option but a fighter fights and Cully kept trying to punch and hold.

Another attack saw him backed to the ropes and his towel did the right thing by throwing in the towel.