By Oli Smith

The domestic rivalry between Sam Sexton and Martin Rogan had nearly reached boiling point during the build up to tonight’s main event. Whilst accusations of attempts to cause civil unrest by Sexton’s team stole the headlines, it was the dissatisfactory ending to their first contest that had brought about the rematch, and gave us reason enough to tune in to the action.

Both Sexton and Rogan are winners of the Prizefighter competition – which Audley Harrison has just added his name to – both men also boast records of 12-1; it is here where the similarities between their careers end. Rogan took to boxing late; turning pro at 33 he maintained an unbeaten record whilst also paying the bills as a taxi driver. At 38 years old, he is 13 years Sexton’s senior but as we have seen so many times of the past 18 months, age is just a number. Wins over Audley Harrison and Matt Skelton really announced his presence on the domestic scene; but it would be the young upstart Sam Sexton who would be the first person to put a dent in Rogan’s ledger.

Sexton turned pro at 21 and bar Derek Chisora, had not fought the same quality of opponent as his Irish counterpart. In their first battle, Sexton controversially lifted the Commonwealth Heavyweight belt out of Rogan’s grasp. The first fight was stopped due to terrible swelling under Rogan’s eye; this had come just moments after Sexton was out on his feet and just a few seconds away from being taken out.

When the bell sounded for the first round of tonight’s contest, the Odyssey Arena in Belfast erupted. As if starting from where he had left off six months previously, Rogan ran out to the centre of the ring to engage his foe. Clubbing body shots were the order of the day for Rogan - and Sexton did his best to cover up. Once he had weathered the initial storm, Sexton opened up and landed a nice combo to back Rogan up just a little.

The key to the first fight was Sexton’s jab, it enabled him to mark up Rogan’s face and force the stoppage. When employed in the rematch it looked to be doing the same thing. If anything Rogan was too eager. He used his bull like strength to bully his way inside and then club at anything he could when he got there. His relentless pressure is nothing to be sniffed at, yet Sexton’s sharper, straighter and more accurate punches probably did enough to edge the first three rounds, which were otherwise very close.

Rogan came out and hustled Sexton in the fourth, his pressure finally yielded results as he rocked him against the ropes, with a straight right to the temple. The follow up assault was neutralized by Sexton who knew well enough from the first time round, when it was time to cover up. Rogan didn’t let up through the fifth, his biggest round of the evening. Thudding shots to the body and head rained in on the Englishman, with the success came more confidence and a thunderous shot that shook Sexton to his boots only made Rogan work harder. Yet like before he wasn’t able to finish his man off, as Sexton held and spoiled when necessary to ensure Rogan didn’t get an opportunity to finish the job.

Sexton gained momentum early in the sixth as Rogan looked desperately tired, uncharacteristically he was reduced to throwing single shots and any sense of urgency in his work had vanished. Question marks over Sexton’s durability had been asked before; he had gassed in the sixth round against Derek Chisora and got knocked out, yet it has always been presumed that Rogan’s heart and courage would pull him through to the bitter end. In any case, Sexton took advantage and the momentum shifted entirely in his direction. Three unanswered right hooks at the end of the round and it was Rogan’s turn to be out on his feet. Though he made it to the end of the stanza, he wouldn’t take any further part in the fight, after a brief word with the referee and with a towel draped over his head - the Rogan signaled no more.

He mentioned that a trapped nerve had caused his left arm to go dead, rendering him unable to continue. Sexton meanwhile gladly took the victory any way it came. Although it once again ended in controversial circumstances, Sexton can still be pleased with his performance tonight. And true to his word, he has grown as fighter since the last time out with Rogan and at 25 years of age, he has plenty of time to fine tune his craft. It is difficult to say where Rogan goes from here, his ability to draw a massive crowd isn’t in doubt and for that reason alone he will remain an attractive prospect. Because even at 38 he is a dangerous adversary and will likely be avoided unless he is able to regain the hardware now firmly in Sexton’s possession.

In the co-headlining feature, broadcast from the Meadowbank Sports Arena in Magherafelt, Paul McCloskey took on Daniel Rasilla for the vacant European Light Welterweight title. McCloskey exploded onto the domestic scene last December with a stunning win over Colin Lynes, in a fight which he was called in as a late notice replacement. With the win he picked up the vacant British Light Welterweight title and went on to defend it by fourth round knockout of Dean Harrison.

Daniel Rasilla meanwhile was hoping to bring the title back to Spain; having dropped a unanimous decision to Andy Murray for the European Union Lightweight title, the move up to Light Welter had proved beneficial and came into the ring tonight on a three fight winning streak.

From the outset McCloskey looked to dominate, as the career 140lb’er, the had little to fear by way of Rasilla’s punching power – only four contests finished early from 15 wins. The fight began relatively slowly as both men took the time to size each other up. Rasilla flicked out his jab, mainly as a ranger finder and rarely followed it up with anything meaningful. The unorthodox style that McCloskey implemented gave him many opportunities to show off to the home crowd. Fighting out of the southpaw stance, he lead with left hooks and uppercuts, slowly dissecting the over matched but still game Rasilla.

Yet the hometown favorite didn’t have it all his own way, Rasilla was able to catch him coming in on many occasions, not helped by keeping his left hand down by his waist. For the most part McCloskey bobbed and weaved out of trouble, but this area of his game would need significant modification should he take the step on the world stage, where the opponents are bigger, stronger and faster than Rasilla proved to be.

Throughout the fight McCloskey frequently had his opponent teetering on the edge of a knockout – and the crowd on the edge of their seats – yet couldn’t find the shots to put his man down for good. In his 19 previous wins he had registered nine stoppages, although not a knockout artist, it only seemed a matter of time before he would break Rasilla’s resistance once and for all. That moment came in the ninth round, as a big right hand caught the Spaniard coming in and sent him stumbling heavily to the canvas. Rasilla managed to beat the count, then looked to have survived the oncoming attack by throwing everything he had at McCloskey; it was his best spell of the night, only it was soon to be ended. McCloskey timed a combination from Rasilla perfectly and sent a hard straight left through his guard, and landing flush on his temple. As Rasilla crumpled once more to the Canvas, referee Erkki Meronen waived the contest off. The official time was 2:15 of the ninth round.

Without doubt it is the biggest win of Paul McCloskey’s career, and with his ledger now reading 20-0 (10KOs) - now would be the perfect time to start looking for bigger fights on bigger stages. The Light Welterweight division is a fragmented one at the moment, and whilst he may or may not win against any of the current champions, a fight with anyone of them would be guaranteed to excite.