GLASGOW, Scotland – Louie O’Doherty claimed the British lightweight title with a stoppage win over home favorite Regan Glackin at the Braehead Arena.
They traded jabs in the opening seconds in a nervy start. England’s O’Doherty, now 11-0 (3 KOs), pushed forwards behind his high guard but Glackin flicked his sharp jab into his face as he tried to close the gap. O’Doherty seemed to settle down in the second and started to find a home for his right hand. He marched forwards, planting his left hand in Glackin’s face before hammering home a hard right over his guard.
O’Doherty, 25, grew into the fight as the rounds went by and in the fourth started to make a dent in the home favorite. Glackin, 27, was struggling to keep the aggressive O’Doherty at bay and was taking heavy shots from every direction. A right hand rocked Glackin late in the fourth but the Scot recovered well. Glackin improved in the fifth, landing two sharp jabs and following them up with a right uppercut. Glackin’s work wasn’t pretty but it was effective, although he did not stop O’Doherty’s charge.
O’Doherty continued to push forwards and Glackin’s scrappy work became less and less effective. In the sixth, O’Doherty was eating jabs but walking through the shots to land hard rights round the back off Glackin’s guard. Glackin mixed it up a little in the seventh, seemingly knowing the fight was slipping away from him in front of his home crowd, and he had some success. O’Doherty lacked head movement, and when Glackin threw – he landed.
Glackin just wasn’t doing it often enough, O’Doherty was able to walk forwards at will and land whenever he wanted. Glackin’s face was becoming increasingly messy and, at the end of the ninth, O’Doherty landed two hard left hands that rocked the Scot. Luckily the bell sounded moments later. O’Doherty continued his dominance in the 10th, attacking with little respect for what was coming back. It seemed only a matter of time until the inevitable happened and Glackin’s corner knew it, too. O’Doherty landed one final hard right hand and Glackin’s corner decided to save their man and threw in the towel. The time of the stoppage was 2.33 of Round 10. Glackin falls to 16-1 (3 KOs) following the first defeat of his professional career.
Amateur standout John Joe Carrigan made a superb start to life as a professional with a first-round finish of Dawif Przybylski. Carrigan was picked up by Hall of Fame manager Shelly Finkel after claiming a silver medal at the U-19 world championships and displayed just why Frank Warren is so excited about the young prospect.
It was an eventful debut for the 18-year-old, who experienced a lot of the differences between the amateur and pro game in just one short round. Carrigan looked confident as he awaited his much anticipated professional debut. At the sound of the bell, he darted towards Przybylski, thumping in a hard jab before flicking his heels in the air. The debutant was fighting for the first time as a senior as well as without a head guard, and was a little too eager with his punches.
Carrigan was clearly a level above his opponent, but he rushed in and clashed heads with Przybylski, causing a cut above the youngster’s right eye and the teenager looked at his glove with bemusement. He was clearly angered that he had been cut on his professional debut and proceeded to take out his aggression on the helpless Przybylski. Carrigan overwhelmed the visitor as he helplessly sat on the ropes waiting for the referee to jump in. Carrigan landed several more telling blows and Przyblyski fell to his knees, with the contest being waved off as he winced on the floor in pain. The time of the stoppage was 2.56 of Round 1. Przybylski fell to 2-4 (1 KO) with the defeat.
Glasgow’s popular Aston Brown picked up the biggest win of his professional career in a local derby against Dundee’s Paul Kean. Brown, now 9-0 (4 KOs), started aggressively with his lead hand low and throwing huge overhand rights. The first few whistled past Kean’s head but as the round went on they got closer and closer. Brown, 34, eventually landed a hard right on the chin, leaving Kean’s legs unsteady and he was unable to move off the ropes. Brown, sensing the finish, started to unload frantically in an attempt to deliver the stoppage he had promised. Kean, 32, had to dig in to finish the round standing, but it was clear the contest would not last much longer.
Brown started the second as he finished the first and Kean was again in a bad way. Brown pushed Kean back to the ropes and thumped in a right to the body that sucked the air out of Kean’s lungs, and Brown followed it up with a sharp left that forced Kean to take a knee. Kean was up at eight but was down on the ground moments later after another left hand took his legs from beneath him. Brown lifted the Celtic middleweight title with the victory and may have just secured himself a deal with Warren’s Queensberry Promotions. Kean falls to 19-4 (2 KOs) with the defeat.