As the season begins to wind down, big fights become increasingly hard to come by but tonight Sky Sports deliver a glimmer of hope in the form of Paul McCloskey’s European title defence against Giuseppe Lauri, live from 10.30pm.
The eagle-eyed amongst us will note the slightly later start time to the ever popular Friday Fight Night, this is to make room for Sky’s live coverage of the Hampshire v Somerset cricket match. Who says the noble art isn’t respected by television bosses?
30 year old Paul McCloskey carries the nickname ‘Dudey’ but perhaps ‘The Silent Assassin’ would prove a more fitting handle as the Irishman tears his way through the 10 stone division with minimum fuss. Having enjoyed a hugely successive amateur career, the man from Londonderry narrowly missed out on a place at the 2004 Olympic Games before turning his back on the computer scoring and two minute rounds in favour of regular pay.
Since halting journeyman David Kehoe in three rounds on his vestless debut in 2005, McCloskey carved out an undefeated run which saw him collect his first honour, an IBF Intercontinental title, courtesy of a 2007 stoppage win over Bulgarian scrapper Tontcho Tontchev. This was to be but a stepping stone for the ambitious southpaw however as, after only 17 starts, he battered Englishman Colin Lynes into submission to get his hands on the much sought after Lonsdale strap.
No domestic fighter has dominated this once popular division for some time now and after only one successful defence, a 4th round TKO over Wolverhampton’s Dean Harrison, he made a step up in class to record another inside the distance victory, this time over Spanish warrior Daniel Rasilla, adding the European belt to his trophy haul. With 20 wins, 10 inside the scheduled duration, against no defeats McCloskey is fast becoming one of the sports hottest properties. He is ranked only third in the current UK ratings behind Amir Khan and an inactive Junior Witter but the up and comer will be looking to close the gap on the Hitter with a convincing defence here.
Fight fans who believe McCloskey’s progress will continue can find him no bigger than Sky Bet’s 1/10 offering.
Giuseppe Lauri may be an Italian living in Hungary but the 34 year old is no stranger to British fight fans, or indeed British fighters. The well travelled veteran has boxed on these shores on five occasions already, winning only once but considering those defeats have come to the likes of Ricky Hatton, Junior Witter and Ted Bami, we can cut him some slack.
Lauri’s prize haul already includes WBF, WBA and WBO Intercontinental crowns as well as Italian and European titles and he enters this clash off the back of a three year undefeated run.
The visitors last two opponents can only be referred to as journeymen however and with six defeats already on his record, the man dubbed ‘The End’ may just live up to his billing. Bet365 think Lauri’s best days are well and truly behind him and trade at as big as 7/1 about the title boarding a plane.
The Italian has had no fewer than 36 fights more than his opponent and it’s safe to assume that he has learnt a fair bit along the way, tricks he will be looking to call upon on fight night. Lauri has fallen short at only the highest level against fighters who have gone on to make a lot of money from the sport. Many thought his ship had sailed at this level but you can’t argue with his eight fight undefeated run and he fully deserves the chance to dispute major honours. At 34 years old you’ve got to wonder how many air miles Giuseppe has left in him however.
The local community will come out in force to support McCloskey. He is the younger, taller and undoubtedly hungrier of the two with a complicated southpaw style to back it all up. Both Hatton and Witter did Lauri early and although he won’t admit it, McCloskey will be looking to put on a performance against the same opponent that can be compared to these greats. He made his pro debut in Belfast’s Kings Hall and a return to that venue on Friday should see him keep up what he started.
Ireland’s pride has recorded all of his stoppage wins inside ten rounds and another night off for the ringside judges can be backed at 4/5 (Skybet). Both possess heavy hands, demonstrated by their impressive KO average and this meeting not reaching the 9.5 round stage can be invested in at 6/5 with Stan James.
