Murray wins European title/Lee makes successful r

By David Boyle at ringside: On the Hunky Dory World title Bill in Dublin’s O2 arena Andy Murray became the new European Lightweight Champion, with a unanimous points win over Spaniard Daniel Rasilla.

From the opening bell it was a competitive fight with both boxers working behind their jabs. Rasilla seemed the faster to start, however as the rounds wore on it was Andy Murray who began to take hold as Rasilla retreated against Murray’s pressure.

From round two right through to six it was much of the same. Rasilla was reluctant to come forward and was reduced to pot shots as Murray’s pressure grew. Murray didn’t let Rasilla get started as he peppered him with jabs and worked well with both hands to the body.

The fight was very uneventful until Rasilla tried to make a fight of it in the seventh round. Both men opened up but once again it was Murray who came out on top.

From the eighth round onwards Rasilla was in survival mode and there wasn’t much that troubled Murray.

The Judges scoring was a bit off with a unanimous decision going to Murray, 119-109 116-112 and 115-113, being a bit kind to Rasilla who was completely shut out of the fight.

Andy Murray now the EBU champion move so 15-0-0 (7ko) and Daniel Rasilla 12-2-0 (3ko).

On a packed undercardcard Limerick’s Andy Lee came back with a win after a long layoff since his win over Willie Gibbs in July last year.

Having had a fight cancelled at Madison Square garden on the eve of St. Patrick’s Day Lee was just glad to be in the ring.

Fighting an old sparring partner Alexander Sipos from Austria, at Middleweight it was always going to be tough, and it proved to be with Lee on the back foot for most of the fight.

Lee started by controlling the distance with a pawing jab and he caught Sipos with a stinging Left uppercut to the body and straight left in the first round. The second round saw much of the same and with ten seconds remaining Lee stunned Sipos with a huge right hook.

From then on nothing much happened with neither man showing much, however lee was edging the rounds but it was more to do with Sipos reluctance to throw anything with substance.

The fight fired up in round Six when Lee on the defensive caught Sipos coming in with a huge right hook that brought him to his knees. Lee tried to finish it but Sipos had a great chin and will to keep going.

Sipos to his credit rallied back with good rounds eight and nine that saw Lee troubled by Sipos’ power as he came at Lee. Twice Lee was caught flush with stinging jabs and then by a straight right in the ninth round, that wobbled him.

Lee obviously ring rusty look ragged and out of stream in the final rounds and in the final round was caught flush a lot but stayed on his feet.

Over 10 rounds the early work did the job for Lee who won by a referee score of 91-99 which was a bit harsh on Sipos who worked well in the closing rounds.

Andy Lee has a record now of 17-1-0 (13ko), Alexander Sipos moves to19-6-2 (9ko).

Afterward Lee admitted that he was rusty, and thanked Sipos for a hard fight. Emmanuel Stewart was relieved that it was over stating, “I was worried especially after the cut we sustained in the second round”.” But the main thing is we got rounds under our belt with a win”.

There was lots of other action on show in Dublin, on a historical night for Irish boxing.

At Lightweight, Two time World Military Champion Michael Kelly 7-0 (1ko) fought Olympian Valentins Morozovs 2-0 (1ko) of Latvia. From the start it was clear that Morozovs was a tricky customer with an unpredictable style. Kelly struggled to find the range but caught Morozovs with overhand rights in the opening round. In a scrappy affair, there was not much clear openings with Kelly trying to catch Morozovs, who was nearly running around the ring. Morozovs throw a lot of punches but they all hit gloves.

It wasn’t until the final round that both men traded. Kelly closed the distance and threw some sweet combinations to the body and finishing to the head with Morozovs swinging wildly but hitting gloves. Twice Kelly landed heavy body shots that caused Morozovs to grunt and breath heavy in the closing seconds.

The contest was scored 38-38 apiece; however Kelly now 7-0-1 (1ko) was unfortunate not to pick up the win.

Jim Rock ended a fine career with a win over Alessio Furlan at middleweight. In a tough fight Rock prevailed with a score of 94-97 in his favour. Rock now plans to retire with a record of 30-4(12), Furlan moves to 21-11-5 (8ko).

The last of the professional side of the card saw Anthony Fitzgerald take on Janis Chernouskis. The fight from the start was more like a pub brawl with swinging hooks and uppercuts coming from both men. After Fitzgerald taking the first, Chernouskis began to work the tightest and took control of the second.

The fight even though a brawl never really got the crowd going and it was came as a shock when Chernouskis fighting at middleweight, threw a perfect right uppercut counter that laid Fitzgerald out for the count at 2.18 of the third round.

Chernouskis now moves to 3-6-0 (3ko) and Anthony Fitzgerald to 1-2 (0ko).

Finally Olympic Bronze Medallist Paddy Barnes had a convincing win on the amateur side of the card and so did Katie Taylor.

The Two time women’s world champion got a fantastic reception as she entered the ring. Fighting against American Caroline Barry, she was superb and came out on top 27-3. She is hoping to have women’s boxing introduced into the 2012 Olympics and with the support she got tonight, she will be giving the women’s boxing massive.

March 20, 2009