NOT CLEARCUT
Mcgregor now holds two belts but win over Farooq divides opinion, Elliot Foster ar ringside
Lee Mcgregor gets the decision against Kash Farooq, but it is controversial
‘I HAD THE HARDEST WEEK OF MY LIFE BUT I FOUGHT MY HEART OUT’
LEE MCGREGOR
won a controversial split decision to keep his Commonwealth bantamweight title and take Kash
Farooq’s British crown. The pair delivered the goods in one of the most exciting boxing dust-ups of the year at the Emirates Arena.
Mcgregor, who had claimed the IBF Youth title after just four fights, hails from Edinburgh and took on his Glasgow rival atop an MTK Fight Night card.
The gifted Grant Smith-trained fighter has endured a treacherous couple of years with the deaths of his mother, grandmother and grandfather. He tried to bully his opponent but struggled to lay a glove on him, while Farooq landed more and better shots to claim the advantage in the third.
That made Mcgregor switch tactics, trying to keep his foe at arm’s length while scoring with the jab. But he was again staggered by a couple of big right hands from the Glaswegian, who appeared to have shaded the fourth as well.
The fifth round unquestionably belonged to Farooq, though, as the man who recently captured the British title outright ahead of taking the fight with “Lightning” punished Mcgregor by driving right and left hooks in to the body.
The Tartan tear-up, with shades of the 15-year-old clash between Alex Arthur and Willie Limond at the Braehead
Arena, continued to heat up. Rounds were equally split and both sets of fans were up on their feet throughout as each man had sustained spells of success.
Farooq’s fitness told in the eighth when he outpunched his man, but Mcgregor, particularly with his impressive right, always fought back valiantly.
Mcgregor, who had been warned by referee Victor Loughlin on several occasions for excessive holding, switched to southpaw but couldn’t keep Farooq at bay. He pushed Farooq through the ropes in the ninth but no action was taken.
The Edinburgh fighter was finally penalised in the 10th round, with third man Loughlin, from Paisley, deducting a point. It looked like that had swung the clash in favour of “The Untouchable”, who was cut by the left eye, but the three scoring judges’ tallies saw it go the other way.
The action over the final two rounds was exciting as both tired. Mcgregor, incredibly, finished the stronger.
“I was willing to do anything in there,” said Lee who was awarded a contentious 115-112 verdict by Mark Lyson. The other two judges, Phil Edwards and John Latham, handed in respective scorecards of 114-113 (Mcgregor) and 114-113 (Farooq) forcing a split decision which also divided those watching at ringside.
“I love having fights like that and I am over the moon. I knew it was a close fight, so hats off to Kash Farooq. There was no bad blood in the build-up and it was total respect.”
Mcgregor, only 22, revealed in the aftermath that his auntie had died in the days leading to this contest. That he then went and performed in such a manner is exceptionally admirable.
“I’ve had the hardest week of my life and I still got in there and fought my heart out,” disclosed the new double champion.
“I want to give a special mention to my auntie, my dad’s sister, whose birthday it was tonight. We just found out the terrible news this weekend that she has passed away.
“I’ve had a horrendous week, making weight, dealing with that. I feel like I had an army with me tonight and that’s what pulled me through.”
What’s next for Mcgregor remains to be seen, but it would not be a surprise to see him move up a division in his next outing.
Farooq, meanwhile, can count himself highly unlucky to have lost this fight. His performance was one of great promise, and he, like Mcgregor, should aim for the very top.
Kieran Smith fought through blood to end his year successfully. The Scottish super-welterweight, from Greenrigg, took on Vincenzo Bevilacqua in a defence of his WBC International Silver title.
Smith, who was last in action at the same venue back in June, was cut twice during the fight, which he won on all three judges’ scorecards by margins of 98-92 twice and 99-91.
Bevilacqua, from Lazio in Italy, got exactly what he deserved from what was a foul-filled fight as he suffered his maiden defeat after doing very little and ending up with his left arm in a sling.
The home fighter was cut early in the fight - in the opening round, in fact - after a clash of heads opened up a wound above the left eye.
His cutman, Tommy Mccormack, did a great job of stemming the dripping claret and Bevilacqua, who entered
➤ the ring undefeated, was warned for leaning in with his head by the referee John Latham.
That didn’t stop him, though, and Smith was cut from a similar exchange in the sixth round having taken control throughout many of the early rounds.
Bevilacqua, all of a sudden, decided to throw some punches in the eighth round, landing a right hand on Smith before being hit by the same shot with interest just seconds later. The first cut suffered by Smith opened back up again in the ninth round, but he fought through it and finished strongly, ripping in body shots in the final round, to come out on top by convincing margins.
Paddy Donovan continued his embryonic campaign in the pros with a dazzling display against Danny Mendoza.
The Andy Lee-trained Limerick man, 20, was imperious against the latest product on the Spanish-based Nicaraguan journeyman conveyor belt and came out with a 60-53 points verdict after knocking down his opponent in the second round with a left hand.
Donovan made his debut in Belfast last month and picked up where he left off. He was hit on the back of the head in the fourth round and that sparked him into life as he, after being told to break by the referee Darren Maxwell, put the pressure on his opponent.
A right hand in the fifth hurt Mendoza but he reacted with nothing but a smile before seeing out the six rounds.
Another man who debuted alongside Donovan in Belfast, Dublin’s Pierce O’leary, moved to 2-0 with a straightforward 40-36 win against Chris Adaway on referee John Mcguire’s card.
“Big Bang” is a former Docklands amateur who won the Irish under-22 title back in January and has represented the country internationally as well as claiming a bucketload of underage honours.
And the youngster outpointed Plymouth’s Adaway at the same venue the 26-year-old was stopped in by Craig Macintyre inside three rounds back in June.
Tommy Philbin secured his second win in six months since returning from an 11-month hiatus.
The Edinburgh light-heavyweight moved his record to 13-0 with four quick by outpointing Lancashire’s Darryl
Sharp over six rounds, with Maxwell giving the away fighter a share of one of the rounds when turning in a tally of 60-55. Kelty’s Craig Morgan kicked off the evening with a straightforward 60-54 win over Edwin Tellez. Tellez, another Spanish-based Nicaraguan, has been in with the likes of IBF world featherweight champion Josh Warrington before the Leeds man won global honours. He lost this fight convincingly and ensured Morgan, who went vegan in the build-up to the fight, moved on to 7-0. The six was refereed by the Mr Mcguire, who was once again on duty as the night finished in fine fashion with featherweight debutant Mark Mckeown, who hails from Ricky Burns’ hometown of Coatbridge. He had vociferous support and dominated Nicaraguan-born Jose Aguilar, also based in Spain, over four, sparking joyous scenes at ringside after being awarded a 40-36 win.
THE VERDICT Mcgregor overcomes slow start to snatch victory.