Warrior Feargal McCrory wins hearts but not world title
By Owain Comerford
There was plenty of guts but no glory for Feargal McCrory in the early hours of Saturday morning.Â
The Tyrone man stepped into the backyard of Washington D.C’s Lamont Roach Jr, aiming to bring the WBA World Super Featherweight Title home, unfortunately leaving empty-handed.
Certainly living up to his moniker, “Fearless” was on the receiving end of an onslaught of bombs from Roach throughout the fight but managed to soldier on before going out on his shield as his corner threw in the towel in the 8th round.
The course of the fight was certainly foreshadowed early on as the former Irish Champion was caught with a clean right hook midway through the 1st round, which was later followed by a thundering left from Roach Jr, certainly earning the Irishman’s respect.“
Fearless” tried adjusting his approach after feeling the precise power strikes from Roach Jr, by trying to make it into a dogfight by engaging in close combat with the technically superior striker.
This adjustment inevitably came back to bite him as he was left on skates at the end of the seocnd from Roach Jr’s patented left hook, before being knocked down early in the third from the same strike.
The short sweet strikes from Roach Jr certainly found a home to the chin and midsection of the Irishman again in the fourth as he was struck down twice in quick succession from crippling shots to the body at the end of the round.
It seemed as if McCrory rose from the ashes in the 5th, fearlessly marching towards Roach Jr, and sticking to his guns to try to rough him up from the inside, landing a clean right hook in the process before grinning at the American as if to say “how’d that feel?”.
Despite a promising fith from the New York-based Irishman along with a clean right uppercut in the 6th, it seemed that his second wind had expired as Roach Jr returned to well once more with crunching hooks to the body and head before the stoppage in the 8th.
 Â
