DONOVAN RETURNS
Eric eases back after crushing loss to Ramírez, writes Nicky Fullerton from ringside
ERIC DONOVAN got back to winning ways as he won every round of six against Nicaraguan Engel Gomez. It was Donovan’s first fight since being stopped by Robeisy Ramírez in February.
It all began cagily with neither fighter overcommitting but, by the second, the talented Donovan had seen all he needed to see. The southpaw varied his shots and, as the rounds increased, so too did the Irisman’s pressure. By the fourth, the overmatched Gomez was being picked off and looking a little bedraggled. After six, Donovan’s dominance was underlined by the 60-54 scoreline tabled by referee for the night, Hugh Russell Jnr.
Colm Murphy stole the show at the Europa in Belfast on Saturday night as he proved too much for Brayan Mairena from Nicaragua. “The Posh Boy” used his jab well as Mairena walked forward for most of the clash. It was a good performance from the Belfast fighter as he showed good composure in this third professional outing.
By the second round, Murphy was making his opponent miss before punishing him with counters, much to the crowd’s delight. By the third the nose of the visitor was bloodied. Murphy finished the contest, a good test for him, in complete control. The score was 60-54.
At super-bantamweight, Belfast’s Rughan Farrell stopped Hull’s experienced Luke Fash in just one round. Farrell started well, clouting Fash with several shots before referee Russell Jnr stopped the fight at 2-59. Fash was unhappy with the stoppage and stormed out of the ring but, regardless, it would only have been a matter of time before Farrell proved triumphant.
Opening the Mark Dunlop promotion was Limerick’s Graham Mccormack taking on Manchester’s Seamus Devlin at middleweight. Southpaw Mccormack bossed the action and won 40-36 on referee Hugh Russell Jnr’s scorecard after four rounds.
Completing the action was Omagh’s Tiernan Bradley who looked good while halting Hungary’s Janos Penzes in a welterweight contest. Bradley was enlivened by his vocal support and looked lively in the opening three minutes. A left hook finished matters in the second as Penzes went down for the count. It was all over at 2-26.