McCloskey eases past Morrison
It was plain sailing for Paul McCloskey on the weekend as he defeated Barry Morrison comfortably to retain his EBU light-welterweight title in Letterkenny.
The win puts McCloskey in the shop window for a world championship bout as he tries to nudge his way in to a fiercely competitive weight class and stand out from the crowd.
“Dudey’s” victory never looked in doubt as he stopped Morrison inside seven rounds. He came out from the first bell with aplomb and walked the first few rounds at a comfortable pace, making his Scottish rival look an inferior class.
In the fifth round Morrison went on the offensive throwing wild hooks but McCloskey countered with a huge right hand that sent the challenger crashing to his knees.
To be fair to Morrison, he got up and battled on, trying to up the tempo and draw McCloskey into a scrap, toe-to-toe. However, the Irishman was having none of this and was as evasive as ever as Morrison repeatedly missed the target.
It looked to be all over in the seventh as Dudey floored the challenger once again, but it was not ruled a punch. Morrison staggered back up to his feet but the end was inevitable and a minute later McCloskey got his opponent caught on the ropes where he unloaded a blistering combination before the referee came over to call it a day.
After the fight McCloskey put his name in the frame over a possible title showdown with WBA champ Amir Khan.
McCloskey told Ireland’s RTE television; "I was so pleased with the performance, I started really sharp.
"He's a hard, hard man and that's a brilliant result for me, it pushes me up the ladder.
"The crowd were amazing, and that really pushes you on. It was good, I was happy.”
When asked what he intended to do next the Derry man said; "What's the next move after becoming European champion? It's obviously the world.
"Amir Khan is one of the big names out there - he's English, I'm Irish, it'd be a great fight for this part of the world. Let's get it on."
A title shot against Khan looks extremely unlikely; he is frying bigger fish right now as takes on Marcos Maidana. If McCloskey is really interested in proving himself at world level he may need to step in with someone like Victor Ortiz. It would be a huge risk but would certainly offer him a way into the big name set up.
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