McCracken proud of Lionhearts despite heavy Cuban defeat
BySportsbeat
Published 17/04/2015 at 09:39 GMT
Rob McCracken insisted he was still proud of his British Lionhearts despite losing 5-0 to the undefeated Cuban Domadores team in their last home match of the World Series of Boxing (WSB) season.
Eurosport
Image credit: Eurosport
Sam Maxwell and international selection Ionut-Mirel Jitaru, of Romania, were both stopped in their contests.
Double Commonwealth Games gold medallist Sean McGoldrick lost a unanimous decision while WSB debutants Joseph Maphosa and Troy Williamson both also lost on points.
The Lionhearts are unable to progress to the knockout stage of the competition, but McCracken focused on the positives from his team's performance against the defending champions.
"Joseph Maphosa and Troy Williamson were brilliant, I'm over the moon for them," he said.
"Two podium potential squad members, they're brand new. They were in there with top class Cubans who have been around for a while and they've gone in, done five rounds and given great accounts of themselves.
"The lads were looking forward to this match. Maphosa and Williamson both jumped at the chance. They learned loads and did great, brilliant performances.
"Sam Maxwell did well; the Cuban was a class operator, probably the best in the world. He had a tough night tonight but I think he’ll learn from it."
The opening bout of the night, Maphosa's light-flyweight contest with Joahnys Argilagos, set the tone for the fixture with the Brit putting in a game performance against the superior Cuban.
At light-welterweight, Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Maxwell went up against the unbeaten London 2012 bronze medallist Yasnier Toledo.
The Cuban southpaw was in control from the start, hurting Maxwell with a left hand in the opener and increasing his output as the rounds progressed.
Maxwell's bravery was his undoing after he was given two standing-eight counts in the final round before Toledo unleashed a barrage of punches, forcing the referee to step in and end the contest.
Having only joined the GB set up six months ago, middleweight Williamson was thrown in at the deep end with No 2 ranked Arlen Lopez, who earned a unanimous decision.
At heavyweight, Jitaru was despatched easily by Erislandy Savon, who famously lost to gold medallist Anthony Joshua at London 2012.
Wales' Sean McGoldrick recovered from a slow start in his contest with unbeaten Andy Cruz, pressuring the Cuban in the final two rounds with his aggression.
Despite the decision, McGoldrick was pleased with his performance and the experience as a whole.
"It's a great learning curve, I'm only 23 years old and that was one of the best boys in the world I just fought, he's one fight from qualifying for the Olympic Games already," he said.
"I will learn a lot from that, it was a very tough fight. He did some stuff which I know I'm capable of beating but I've never experienced it before.
"I just didn't want to lose, I just wanted to give it all, everything I had I wanted to leave in the ring and push him to the limit. On another day I know I could beat him, I just need a little bit more experience."
© Sportsbeat 2015
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