Conner Kelsall enters the celebrations after a hard-fought victory over Conor Quinn on June 28 in Belfast. Photo credit: Queensberry Promotions
Conner Kelsall silenced the home crowd as Conor Quinn won the vacant Commonwealth flyweight title by a 12-round majority decision at the SSE Arena (formerly Odyssey Arena) in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on Friday.
Kelsall (12-0, 1 knockout) was judged 116-112, 115-114, while the second judge couldn’t tell the difference between the two fighters, scoring it 114-114.
The opening act as headliner of the Queensberry Promotions event was relatively restrained. The quick-legged guy stayed on the outside and threw the jab. This confirmed the fight’s pattern of Kelsall’s constant movement, which gave Quinn (9-1-1, 6 KO) problems throughout the night.
Quinn moved towards the body, trying to ponderous Kelsall’s constant movement, and although the Doncaster man’s ribs were reddened early on, it made no difference.
After the first few rounds the crowd was noticeably composed. Quinn was unable to change the pace and spent most of the fight trailing Kelsall and unable to cut corners effectively.
Kelsall, 25, boxed on his toes, using his jab and the occasional right hand, and even when Quinn had success, it was short-lived.
In the final 20 seconds of the fight, Kelsall decided to literally run around the ring and taunt Quinn by putting his hands up in the air to signal that he believed he was going to win. It was a rather distasteful way to end the fight, but although the scorecards were a bit closer than they looked, he managed to win
“He said he’d catch me, I don’t think I got hit solid, call it a draw, I call it a mismatch,” Kelsall said. “Look at my face compared to his, I think that says a thousand words.
“The solid work paid off; we had a grueling camp. I did it on tour with Jason [Cunningham] and Stefa [Bull] and the team. Everything was against us, the Irish didn’t support us, but we supported ourselves.
In the feature, Pierce O’Leary dominated his Dublin compatriot Darragh Foley for 10 rounds to win by a wide unanimous decision.
The undefeated O’Leary (15-0, 8 KO) was classy throughout, and Foley (22-6-1, 11 KO) showed his resilience. O’Leary received a 99-90 and 98-91 x2 decision.
The two traded punches early in the opening round, with O’Leary landing a nice right hand with about a minute left in the opening round and then catching Foley’s attention with a uppercut in the closing seconds.
O’Leary, 24, continued his brisk start and led Foley, 35, to a perfect right uppercut that sent Foley to center ring. Foley, who had never been stopped before, stood up and used his experience to initially knock O’Leary to the floor to buy himself additional time and allow him to clear his head.
O’Leary hurt Foley again delayed in round 3 with a pair of body shots, then unloaded while the older man was on the ropes trying to become the first fighter to stop Foley, but was unable to do so, although he continued to dominate the action over the next few rounds.
Foley showed great commitment and although he was rocked by a phenomenal left hook, he was in no danger of falling and even called O’Leary to him.
The tough Foley had one of his better rounds in the eighth, punching O’Leary from close range. During one of those exchanges, the two collided and clashed heads, resulting in cuts to both men.
At the end of the fight, Foley lifted O’Leary onto his shoulders in a stunning display of sportsmanship.
O’Leary performed brilliantly and showed he was capable of playing.
“We got the job done tonight, substantial things are happening, God bless them,” O’Leary said. “It was amazing, it showed what level I’m at. We went out there and executed the game plan perfectly, we could have stepped it up a little bit more.
“I will get back to the gym as soon as possible and continue working together.”
His trainer Joe McNally, who also trains Liam Smith and Josh Taylor, had a word of caution for other better-known rising junior welterweights in the UK
“It was a fantastic performance, Darragh is the gatekeeper to see if a player can get into the world’s elite,” McNally said. “The guy does a lot of things in the gym, I think he can be one of the best [young] There are 140-pounders in the world right now.
“People talk about Adam Azim and Dalton Smith, but listen to me, Pierce O’Leary is the future of the 140-pound division in Europe – he is special. He traveled sometimes tonight. I don’t think anyone would do that to Darragh.
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