By Alexey Sukachev

European light welterweight champion Paul McCloskey (21-0, 11 KOs) put an end to Giuseppe Lauri's spirited effort with a lethal right hook to the jawin the main event of the show, promoted by Barry Hearn's Matchroom Boxing at Kings Hall in Belfast, Nothern Ireland. The fight was an all-out war before the stoppage, which came at 0:45 of the eleventh round.

The other feeling was tasted by witnesses in opening rounds of the contest. WBC #7 McCloskey, making the initial defense of his EBU 140lb belt, was in full control of 57-fight veteran Lauri, who looked rusty and againg at 34. The Irish fighter used his southpaw right jab to shift Italian's defense and used right and left uppercuts to punish him inside. Lauri (now 50-7, with 29 KOs) tried to land some shots of his own but failed to land cleanly on elusive bob-and-weaving Irishman. In the second round McCloskey connected with a big left hook, which put the Italian down. However, referee Robin Dolpierre ruled it as a slip rather than a real knockdown.

Rounds three to five were mostly in McCloskey's favour but he looked less determined and more flawed than in earlier rounds. Lauri, four years older than the champion, did his best to take something from the Irishman and succeeded in that to a degree. McCloskey ate several telling uppercuts and was sometimes way off the target. In round six, the defending champion reinforced himself and applied more savvy tricks to the Italian which helped him much to get that round in his favour. Lauri, on the other hand, came strong in rounds seven and eight, while McCloskey lost some of his steam. The fight was fought in close quarters with Lauri landing more cleaner shots but with an insufficient power. The local fighter was cut over his right eye and Lauri had his left eye partially shut.

In rounds 9 and 10 both, fighters performed evenly but the Irishman was deducted a point in the tenth for an excessive use of his forehead to cut and injure Lauri. BoxingScene had it 96-92 - for Paul McCloskey after round 10. The end came abruptly soon after a start of eleventh. Both fighters were warned once again for rough tactics on the inside. Lauri tried to apologize for his clearly illegal tactics but McCloskey chose not to forgive these tricks. He suddenly threw a wild right hook that almost immediately put Lauri badly down, where he was counted out by referee Dolpierr despite some protests from his corner. Nice win for the champion, who still needs more refinement before moving up to bigger challenges.

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Also, Scottish Kevin McIntyre (28-7, 9 KOs) is the new Celtic welterweight champion, following a hard-fought unanimous decision over Irish Stephen Haughian (18-2-1, 8 KOs) in ten rounds of brutal two-way action. Scores were: 97-93, 97-94 and 98-93 - all for the former British welterweight master.