Weekend round-up: Geraghty grinds out win while Devine defeated
It was something of a quiet weekend for Irish fighters.
Leading the charge on Saturday night was Declan Geraghty who overcame Eusebio Osejo at the Echo Arena on Liam Smith’s Boxnation-aired World title defence. ‘Pretty Boy’ was forced to win ugly en-route to 11(3)-1(0), taking a count in the second before frustrating his Nicaraguan opponent into two point deduction and an eventual disqualification in the sixth and final round.
Saturday also saw the return of Miles Shinkwin. The light heavyweight, of Cork stock, was defeated in a British title clash with Hosea Burton on the Frampton-Quigg undercard in what was the fight of the night but got back to winning ways at the York Hall. The Hertfordshire fighter shook off the rust and stopped Eric Mokonzo with a left to the body in the fifth stanza of their scheduled six rounder to take his record to 12(6)-1(1).
The ‘Date With Destiny’ card at the York Hall also saw defeat for Luton/Wexford’s Michael Devine who dropped to 13(4)-5(2)-1. ‘Chunky,’ who appears on the June 25th National Stadium show, lost out 58-57 Huddersfield journeyman Ismail Anwar in a close and cagey bout which he feels he should have shaded.
Finally, in California, the Wayne McCullough-trained featherweight Julian Ramirez fell to a highly controversial loss to Arthur Lopez on the Francisco Vargas-Orlando Salido undercard. The L.A. fighter was viewed by most to have won clearly in what was a close contest, but the judges ruled in Lopez’s favour (98-92, 97-93 x2). Afterwards McCullough argued that Ramirez “was robbed tonight on HBO Boxingand deserves an immediate rematch”
Photo Credit: Ricardo Guglielminotti – The Fighting Irish (@ThefIrish)
