MCCARTHY CRUISES

Steve Wellings sees local cruiserweight blow away cobwebs

TOMMY MCCARTHY was one day shy of a full year out of the ring, so a 60-54 rust-shedding win against Swadlincote’s Kent Kauppinen came as welcome relief for the Belfast cruiserweight. Boxing at the Shorts Sports & Social Club, Mccarthy kept a steady pace in the early rounds, though referee Hugh Russell Jnr admonished him for punching behind the head in the third. The home fighter – who had recently been sparring Hughie Fury and Mairis Briedis – worked harder in the final two sessions, securing a shutout victory.

“A world title fight next!” joked Mccarthy afterwards. “After a year out, what would be the point if I’d blown him away in a round? I wanted to stop him, but I needed rounds.”

Belfast’s Luke Wilton wants another run towards domestic honours. Tough Bulgarian Georgi Georgiev was dropped in the second round by a Wilton flurry, started by a left to the body. The visitor hung on to concede 60-53 on Mr Russell Jnr’s card.

Tony Nellins enjoyed his yearly outing with a 40-36 success over Bulgaria’s Radoslav Mitev. The import had upset the odds on these shores before, so Belfast’s Nellins had to be switched on for the duration.

John Lowey refereed that, and also Antrim’s Conor Cooke’s

40-37 defeat of Poland’s Pawel Strykowski.

Two debutants got their careers off to winning starts. Belfast’s Cathy Mcaleer beat Bulgarian Teodora Hristova 40-38 on Mr Russell Jnr’s card. Hristova was unfortunate not to be given at least a round.

Larne’s Kelvin Mcdonald

outpointed Belfast road warrior Alec Bazza. Dropped in round one by a left hook, Bazza threw caution to the wind but went down 40-35 on Mr Russell Jnr’s reckoning (Eamonn Magill refereed).

Scotland’s David Jamieson halted bloodied Mancunian-iranian Taha Mirhosseini. Mr Lowey stopped it at 1-42 of the third (set for four).

THE VERDICT Mccarthy sheds some rust on this Paul Graham/ Team Allio co-promotion.