Kennedy beaten by Babic
THE POWERFUL Alen Babic proved a step too far for Wicklow based garda Niall Kennedy on Sunday evening, winning inside three rounds at Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes.
The unyielding Croat came into the bout with four wins from his four professional bouts, all inside two rounds, but he was at least pushed to a third by gutsy garda Kennedy.
There were some question marks about ‘The Savage’ until he put Shawndell Terell Winters away in super-quick time in his previous fight, but that win and this performance against Kennedy has shown that Babic is a contender to be reckoned with.
Kennedy came into the contest with just the one loss on his record, with 13 wins of which eight came by knockout, but this was undoubtedly the best opponent he has faced.
After battling injuries in the last year, this was Kennedy’s first fight for 14 months. He put his blood and guts into it but it was evident from early in the first round that the 36-year-old was overmatched.
Kennedy went down in the second round after taking a couple of powerful blows while off balance and was on the canvas again early in round three, sustaining a count in the process.
When another assault arrived immediately after the two fighters came together again, referee Ian John Lewis was left with no real option other than stepping in as it was getting dangerous for the Gorey man at that stage.
It will be interesting to see what Kennedy does in the coming weeks. He’s given it a great crack, done his county and town proud and might contemplate, given the injuries that keep popping up, if there’s much will to keep going.