Controversial defeat for boxer Hogan

KILCULLEN native Denis Hogan suffered a controversial defeat when he lost his challenge to undefeated WBO champion Jaime Munguia for the World light-middleweight title in front of a partizan 17,000 crowd in the Arena,Mexico, in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The 34-year-old Brisbane based Kilcullen native who originally boxed out of the Grangecon Club saw the luck of the Irish desert him in the eyes of the judge, one of whom scored a draw, only for the two remaining judges vote the way of Munguia.

Most of the observers were of the opinion that total underdog Hogan deserved the decision, something the challenger himself was well aware of.

‘I knew I won the fight – I’m really disappointed to train as hard as I did and for this to happen,’ he said.

‘We came here in good faith, and no disrespect to the people who scored it, but that decision shouldn’t go through.

‘This is bad for boxing, and a rematch is accepted right away, no questions asked. You saw the game plan, keep moving and land more shots. Every time I knew I was doing that. His power didn’t faze me at all because I was moving, rolling with the punches, doing what I was doing.’

Respected website Boxing News 24 made Hogan a 115-113 winner while the Sporting News was outraged with the result.

They wrote: ‘There’s no doubt a rematch should take place. Hogan did more than enough to win.

‘He controlled most of the action, never let the champion execute his game plan and showed more heart inside the ring.’

Meanwhile a title unification fight has been confirmed for Bray boxer, Katie Taylor, who will face Delfine Persoon this summer. Taylor has dominated in all of her 13 profesional fights and currently holds three of the four world titles.

The bout will take place on the under card of Anthony Joshua’s New York clash with Baby Boy Miller on June 1.