LIVE UPDATES – Rise or Fall
We are back in the intimate setting of the Warehouse for JB Promotions‘ latest installment.
A host of local talent get run-outs on the Summer card.
The likes of Matthew Tyndall, Glenn Byrne, Peter Carr, Cain Lewis and Shane Meehan continue their busy starts, while Paul Loonam, John Boyd and Shane McConnell return for their second fights. Cheyanne O’Neill will look to make it two wins on the bounce, while Steve Collins Jr returns from a long sabbatical
Irish-Boxing.com will be filing live reports from each fight below.
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Cheyenne O’Neill v Tessa Van Stenus
Walking out to ‘Sex on Fire’, Cheynne O’Neill and Tessa Van Stenus surely set tone from the first bell with a fiery first round. Van Stenus marched fearlessly towards the Athlone woman landing clean straight and hooks to the head of O’Neill, with O’Neill recooping, shelling up and landing clean hooks of her own to the body of Van Steenus, very close round
The second round followed suit with a blistering pace set by both women, Cheyenne landing, yet again very nice strikes to the mid section of Van Steenus, but seemed to get caught on the break, with O’Neill landing a perfectly timed two-punch combo at the conclusion of the round.
The Dutch-woman seemed to get the better of O’Neill at the end of yet again a very close third round, with Van Steenus going back to the well with well timed counter strikes.
In the fourth Van Steenus ramped up her activity, throwing combination strikes which did not seem to faze O’Neill who countered with her own strikes to the body, O’Neill smiles at her opponent at the end of the round as if to say ‘is that all you’ve got?’
Getting back into her groove in the fifth, Cheyenne O’Neill “slipped and ripped” with a few shots as Van Steenus over extended with a straight right, O’Neill again mixing it up beautifully with a right hook followed by a lead hook to the body of Van Steenus. Close fight going into the final round.
Another close round in the sixth, Van Steenus again throwing a lot of strikes, which seemed to just land on the gloves of O’Neill who yet again countered with more precision.
What a fight to start the night. The pace was set from the first bell, Cheyenne O’Neill just about gets over the line in a close 58-57 decision win.
Steve Collins Jr v Hussein Itaba
Setting his intention from the beginning of the first, Collins marches Itaba putting his back to the ropes, keeping to the outside with perfectly timed jabs and straights, whilst mixing it up with strikes to the body midway through the round before landing an inch perfect right hook near the end of the first,
Second round much like the first to begin with ‘The Wolfhound’ keeping to the outside, Itaba swung for the fences on a few occasions but Collins Jr simply wasn’t there, countering with heavy left hooks. Both men tying up in a clinch midway through the round where Collins Jr got to work with piston-like uppercuts when in close.
Not resting on his laurels and head hunting in the third, Collins Jr mixed it up in with thundering hooks to the body which visibly hurt Itaba, with Itaba wincing to the strikes on multiple occasions. Collins Jr sensing his opponent is hurt and is hunting him down.
Back to the well again at the beginning of the fourth and final round, ‘The Wolfhound’ rips to the body with a clean left hook to the body. Itaba countering with long strikes to try keep the distance after feeling the powerful liver shots from the Irishman.
Huge counter right hand from Collins Jr in the fourth wobbles Itaba who clutches for the Irishman to survive, Collins Jr again landing that patented left hook to the liver of Itaba to conclude what was undoubtedly a dominant win for Collins Jr, decision coming next.
Without a doubt, Steve Collins Jr gets it done in a 40-36 unanimous decision victory, “The Wolfhound” set the tone from the word go, landing bombs to both the body and head of Itaba.
Glenn Byrne v Octavian Gratii
Keeping the distance from the off, Glenn Byrne dictating the range at which the fight takes place, that being his own, landing double jabs and straight rights at will, mixing it up with quick hooks to the body against the ropes, Gratii not landing anything significant in the first as he simply couldn’t get within striking range of Byrne.
Byrne yet again setting the tone from the start of the second, looks to be putting a bit more power behind his strikes, a swing and a miss from Gratii left the head wide open and Byrne capitalised on it landing a clean left hook on the Romanian.
Mixing it up midway through the second, Byrne finds the home for perfectly timed precise right hooks to the body of Gratii.
Taking instruction from his brother Jay in the third, Glenn Byrne keeps his distance and composure in the third, again landing thudding hooks to the body and head of Gratii when in close quarters, Byrnes most significant strike of the round being a heavy right hook to the body of Gratii, a strike which could’ve been heard at the back of The Warehouse.
Composed and consistent with the jab up until the midpoint of the fourth, Byrne began to put the foot on the gas that bit more halfway through the round, snapping Gratii’s head back with a snappy jab multiple times through the round, again landing very sharp hooks and counters when Gratii over extends. Gratii, after being touched by Byrne throughout the first three rounds, beckons Byrne forward to try and lure him into a dog fight.
Gratii beginning to ramp up his activity in the fifth trying to put Byrne on the backfoot with combination strikes, which Byrne manages to evade and counter to the body before teeing off on Gratii in the closing seconds of the round.
If its not broken, don’t fix it. From the off in the sixth round, Byrne throws at will to the lefthand side of Gratii’s body, who certainly looks to be feeling the crunching strikes to his ribs. Gratii, trying to return hooks to the body, throws to no avail as Byrne looks unfazed by the strikes.
Seems too little too late from Gratii as he only began to put Byrne on the backfoot for brief stages through the fifth and sixth round.
The judges make it official, reaffirming what was undoubtedly going to be a win for Glenn Byrne with a dominant 60-54 win.
Peter Carr v Jordan Grannum
Full of energy in his walkout, Carr brings the energy to the ring immediately putting Grannum’s back to the ropes, landing a straight left from southpaw stance, before switching back to orthodox and landing multiple strikes to the body of Grannum against the ropes.
Switching up his stances again in the second, Carr is keeping Grannum guessing whilst putting unrelenting pressure on the Englishman by popping the jab before ripping to the body. A swing and a miss from Grannum which Carr let coolly whistle past his head leaves a great opening for Carr to again put the gloves on Grannum against the ropes.
Opening up the third again by popping the jab in Grannum’s face, Carr tee’s off against the ropes with a flurry of hooks early in the round. Carr once again lands thundering hooks and uppercuts against the ropes an the Warehouse erupts sensing a finish.
Carr’s pressure in the fourth was unrelenting as he looked to cut angles off and put leather on Grannum, swinging from the hip, and spurred on by the crowd here in the Warehouse, Grannum managed to endure Carr’s onslaught which carried on from the end of the previous round, landing a very well timed straight to the body of Carr in the process.
Back in southpaw to open up the fifth, Carr’s approach was much the same as it was in the first, landing the straight left at will following feints with the right hand. By the midpoint of the round both men were in close quarters swinging for the fences with Grannum landing a few nice shots of his own just behind the ear of Carr.
Grannum looks to have gotten a second wind this round, snapping Carr’s head back on occasion with a snappy jab, Carr’s activity levels seemed to drop midway through the round following the pressure he put on the Englishman over the last five rounds, which Grannum capitalised on an landed a pinpoint left hook on Carr whilst his hands were low, a strike which stunned the Dubliner and reminded him that he wasn’t out of the woods yet.
Both men standing on a six-pence in the middle of the ring and swinging for the fences at the end of the round, giving an exhilarating end to an action packed 6 round fight.
Moving to 3-0, Peter Carr gets the job done in a 59-55 decision victory.
Cain Lewis v Jake Pollard
Opening up in the first round “King” Cain Lewis was certainly the more active boxer, mixing it up early on keeping Pollard at distance with his lightning quick jab before ripping to the body when Pollard closed the distance, going toe to toe midway through the round, with Lewis coming out the better of the engagement with clean strikes to the ribs of Pollard.
Much like the first, Lewis comes out with a calculated approach in the second, keeping Pollard at range with the jab and countering beautifully on occasion when Pollard over extended on his strikes. Trying to put Lewis on the backfoot, Pollard threw looping shots coming to the end of the round, which Lewis evaded beautifully.
Putting his weight on Pollard at the beginning of the third, Lewis countered yet another looping strike from Pollard with a perfectly timed jab, followed by a combo of hooks to the body, which he as found a home for thus far in the fight. “King” Cain Lewis landing an inch perfect counter uppercut on his opponent as Pollard approached with his head down.
“King” Cain Lewis goes back to the well once more with his patented hooks to the body of Pollard. Ever durable, Pollard managed to take the shots to the body before taking a knee following a rib crunching right hook midway through the fourth, after making it though the referees count Pollard shells up in an effort to protect himself from more damaging strikes, with Lewis breaking his guard with multiple right hands to the body,
With Pollard shelling up in the fifth in an effort to protect himself from more shots to the ribs, Lewis rethinks his approach and goes back to the jab as Pollard leaves his head wide open.
The sixth and final round begins, the damage to the body of Pollard is clearly visibly bruised from Lewis’ stinging shots, especially on the right hand side, leaving a target for Lewis to further exploit. Jake Pollard, clearly exhausted and very hurt to the body can only lunge towards Lewis in an effort to grab hold of him and survive for a few more seconds.
After six, dominant rounds the judges make a foregone conclusion official, with “King” Cain Lewis waltzing his way to a 60-53 victory on the cards.
Sean Murray v Edgar Kemski
The first strike of the fight was a big one, as Kemski’s ‘hands down’ style came back to bite him as Navan’s Sean Murray snapped the Slovaks head back against the rope early on. Murray continued to approach cautiously as Kemski tried to lure him in with his awkward style, Murray didn’t buy into his games and kept his range landing significant strikes from the outside throughout the first.
Kemski, again retreating into the corner again at the start of the second, Murray coolly marched him down again landing a straight down the pipe, before Kemski was given a stern warning by the referee for ducking way too low. Kemski gave the referee an obscure way of displaying to the ref that he wasn’t holding in the clinch before breaking, with Murray landing on the break.
To begin the third, Kemski comes out all guns blazing, landing little to no strikes on Murray who calmly circled out, before teeing off on Kemski against the ropes.
Kemski’s games in attempt to lure Murray in by keeping his hands low and flexing on Murray throughout the third were unsuccessful to say the least as the Slovakian was on the wrong end of yet again more sharp straight strikes from Murray.
At the start of the fourth, Murray walks Kemski down and lands consecutive straight right hands against the rope which broke the guard of Kemski, before Murray stiffening Kemski’s legs with a perfect jab as he walked forward with his hands by his side, Kemski’s feint’s and twitching movements proved to work eventually as he landed a left hook followed by a right on Murray.
The fifth begins with Kemski receiving yet another warning from the referee for striking with the inside of his gloves, following the warning Murray put the pressure on again pressuring Kemski against the ropes, only for the referee to intervene for Kemski getting tangled up, the end of the round came with Kemski’s best shot of the fight so far as he ran toward Murray landing a left hand over the top in the process.
Murray starts the sixth throwing out the jab as a rangefinder before both men throwing haymakers at the same time, none of which landed, the fight returned to the ropes with Murray landing hooks to Kemski’s right ear and a few words in the left before the break.
After 6 rounds against a tricky and awkward opponent, Sean Murray takes the win over Edgar Kemski in a 59-55 decision win.
Shane McConnell v Fabrizio Rubino
Confident as ever walking to the ring, Waterford’s “Sugar” Shane McConnell certainly backed it up, with an emphatic knockout win early in the first round over Fabrizio Rubino. McConnoll started very methodically picking his shots, before Rubino tried to close the distance. Both men traded hooks whilst toe to toe and “Sugar” landed a sweet left hook on the break which he followed with a right hand that flatlined the German Rubino.
Matthew Tyndall v Santiago Garces
Starting focused and composed in the first, Bray’s Matthew Tyndall marched his Columbian opponent, Santiago Garces down not jumping at any shots and picking his jabs and straights cunningly, Tyndall’s most significant strike of the round was a straight right over the top as Garces dropped his lead hand.
The second, much like the first, consisted of Tyndall keeping the distance and picking his shots from the outside, landing straights to both the body and head of Garces as he tried enter the range of the Wicklow man, with Tyndall landing a three punch combo to the body and head of Garces near the end of the round.
Ramping up his activity from the previous two rounds, Tyndall marched Garces down in the third breaking the guard with straight right hands followed by left hooks whenever the Columbian Garces looked to counter.
Both men started the fourth a lot more active than the earlier rounds, with Tyndall mixing up his shots landing straights, uppercuts and hooks from the off. Midway through the round Tyndall landed a stinging left hook to the head of Garces before both men later traded shots to the body in the middle of the ring.
Not head hunting or chasing the finish in the fifth, Tyndall yet again finds home for the left hook which Garces had no answer for throughout the round.
Into the sixth and final round we go, and it’s been a great display of technical boxing from Matthew Tyndall, attacking to both the body and head, not getting ahead of himself chasing a finish and keeping his composure. Knowing he’s ahead on the cards, Tyndall keeps using his ‘in and out’ approach, tagging Garces, then retreating, landing a clean straight right once again along with an uppercut, snapping back Garces’ head.
A dominant display of patience and discipline see’s Matthew Tyndall move to 5-0 by way of a 50-44 decision win.
John Boyd vs Dale Arrowsmith
.Dominant from the off and utilising his reach, Boyd kept Arrowsmith to the outside with his back to the ropes by product of jabs, straights and certainly didn’t discriminate with hooks to both sides of the Englishman’s body.
The second started with a straight left from the southpaw Boyd, which he followed up with a lead hook to the body. Arrowsmith, who hasn’t thrown much, made effort to lunge towards Boyd, who pivoted out and counters with a left hand before keeping Arrowsmith at range for the remainder of the round.
Arrowsmith starts the third swinging for the fences to no avail and both men tie up in the clinch. With his hands up, Dale Arrowsmiths guard is yet again broken by Boyd’s sharp straight strikes which the Irishman followed up with a one, two and finished with a hook to the body.
Ever dominant again in the fourth, Boyd isn’t discriminating with his strikes mixing it up with shots to both the body and head of Arrowsmith and finishing with a flurry of hooks in the fourth.
Arrowsmith looking to be a lot more active in the fifth, trying to get inside the range of Boyd, with both men trading strikes early in the round, Boyd once again regains control of the centre of the ring throwing up feints to create an opening for his strikes, which worked a treat as Arrowsmith bites at a feint near the end of the round.
After striking predominantly to the head in the fifth, Boyd goes back to the body early on in the sixth, with Arrowsmith blocking some of the Irishman’s attempts to the body. Boyd’s stamina and endurance proving to be the difference in the final round as the Irishman stays on his toes, bouncing around late in the round.
Moving to 2-0 in his professional career after great display technical boxing and great utilisation of his jab throughout the bout, John Boyd gets his hands raised in 60-54 decision win.
Paul Loonam v Yin Caicedo
Feeling his opponent out early in the first, Offaly’s Paul “The Boxer” Loonam didn’t waste any time getting down to business after finding the range with the jab, Loonam landing significant counter shots on the Columbian, Caicedo.
Speeding into the second round, Loonam immediately put Caicedo on the back foot pressuring him up against the ropes before a referees intervention. With sky high confidence, Loonam evaded multiple looping strikes from Caicedo in fashion which got a great response from the crowd. With just about ten seconds to go in the round Caicedo landed a left hook on “The Boxer”, who appeared to not be hurt by the strike.
Slick, smooth and speedy footwork and head movement from Loonam in the third seemed to frustrate Caicedo as he once again threw looping left and right hands, with the most contact being a glancing strike to the head of Loonam.
Maybe a play to get some more time between rounds from the corner of Caicedo, as they failed to take the stool out at the beginning of the fourth, buying their fighter a couple of more seconds recovery wise between rounds. Nevertheless, Loonam was back in Caicedo’s face throwing rapid fire jabs to close the distance, when getting Caicedo’s back to the ropes, Loonam fired straight right hands down the middle. Loonam’s speed advantage is definitely becoming more apparent.
Loonam’s dynamic striking and lightning quick jab proved to be effective early in the fifth as blood began to pour from the nose of Caicedo, which seemed to light a fire in the Columbian as he tried to tie up with the Offaly-man and rough him up in the clinch with aggressive dirty boxing, visibly frustrated, Caicedo began to put everything behind his strikes to try and get something on Loonam.
Going into the sixth and final round, the blistering pace set by both men continues with neither taking a backstep early on, Loonam clever as ever using his jab to keep Caicedo outside, who again tries to tie up with the Offaly man to land strikes from inside the clinch, some of which seemed to land to the back of the head. Instructions from Loonam’s corner to their boxer with 40 seconds to go to “keep to the outside” as they believe their fighter is comfortably ahead.
The Pride of ‘The Faithful County’, Offaly’s Paul “The Boxer” Loonam moves to 2-0 by way of a 59-55 decision, topping off an electric night of great fights here at The Warehouse.
