Whitehouse forced to Crank it up against tough opposition

The National Stadium has seen some classics in its time – and while Gerard Whitehouse versus Sergio Abad won’t threaten the classic status of the very best seen at the home of Irish boxing – it will go down as one of the best down the card support clashes the legendary venue has seen. 

Undefeated welterweight Whitehouse made the step up to six rounds for the first time and his ability to fight for 18 minutes was tested to the max. Indeed, such was the approach of opponent,  ‘Crank’ probably did 10 rounds of work over the six.

At first glance, it was probably not the ideal foe for your first fight in a year, but the all action six against an opponent that came to win will more than benefit the Balbriggan boxer moving forward.

The 60:54 scoreline doesn’t reflect the true nature of a highly entertaining clash as ‘Crank’ had to crank it up on more than one occasion against a come forward foe.

The was a more measured approach to ‘Crank’ in his first fight in a year. The puncher was helped by the fact his opponent wasn’t overly negative. The Fingal favourite boxed behind a jab, employed the short left hook and gained his opponents respect with some clever body shots.

Two big right hands early in the second delighted Whitehouses sizable following, but the Spaniard had some success of his own in the second stanza and once again the Dublin youngster was an entertaining clash.

Abad kept coming forward in the third and is certainly an opponent that would welcomed back to Dublin. Whitehouse seemed to being enjoy the challenge and the chance to counter punch rather than being forced to clinch. He was composed in nature if wild with some shots in the third. 

‘Crank’ sat down on his shots more in the fourth, but still couldn’t his opponent from coming forward as an entertaining clash continued

The 21 year old didn’t want to share a Dublin restaurant with the Spaniard post the weigh in on Friday, but it looked at this stage as if he would have to share the ring with him for at least six.

Whitehouse went into round five for the first time as pro and the Spaniard tried to test his stamina he came out flying of the blocks and while the home fighter was producing the quality his foe was shading it in terms of quantity.

An all-action sixth followed a same pattern, but Whitehouse bit down on his gum-shield and hurt the Spaniard with a body shot before threatening a strong finish. However, true to the nature of the clash the 34 year old from Mijas in Southern Spain came back. 

The crowd showed their appreciation post bout and to their credit were a little disappointed the visiting punchers efforts were not rewarded with a round or two.