By Steve Wellings

It was a case of different fight, same result, as Sam Sexton retained his Commonwealth heavyweight title in the hostile atmosphere of Belfast’s Odyssey Arena.  The 25-year-old kept a cool head under pressure and broke the heart and stamina of the local man, causing Rogan to retire after six rounds, citing a damaged left arm.

Despite the pre-fight promises of an all new fighting machine with hidden skills, busting to come to the fore, it was the same old ‘Rogie’ rumbling forward, with added emphasis on a body attack.  Howard Foster had the thankless task of keeping things clean, as Rogan bored in with the head and Sexton held on constantly, stifling his opponent’s rushes.

Rogan was fired-up in the opening exchanges, roughing his man and exciting the crowd without landing too much of significance; his pressure and flurries to the body were still catching the eye.  Sexton’s solid jab was used sparsely in the opening three sessions, which was surprising given it kept Rogan at bay and off-balance.  Sam’s quality was counteracting Rogan’s quantity by the fourth and the Falls Road man was falling short, although a right hand off the ropes took Sexton’s attention.

In the fifth round, the inevitable happened and Sexton was hurt.  Rogan, sporting a cut on the forehead, had his man lurching around the ring on unsteady legs, grappling for breathing space as trainer Graham Everett looked on anxiously.  A left hook pushed him back to the ropes and I hoped referee Howard Foster wouldn’t respond to the vociferous reaction and withdraw the champion prematurely.  He didn’t, and the Norwich man made it back to the corner following a severe warning for incessant holding – more importantly, he had survived and would not be troubled again.

The sixth saw a complete turnaround in events, with Rogan far from continuing the onslaught, he suddenly found himself on the end of the, so far absent, double-jab.  Straight right hands followed and the shift in play was evident.  By the final 30-seconds of the round Martin was seriously fatigued and stared down at his boots, swaying across the ring, searching for respite.  He slumped on the stool shaking his head as trainer Paul McCullach and assistant Gerard McCafferty attempted futile motivation.  Rogan shook his left hand and the referee was informed; Foster waved it off much to the dismay of the crowd, many of whom had not seen the warning signs.  Sexton’s jubilant team flooded the ring and security rushed to quell a couple of irate locals who wanted to crash the ringside party.  MC Mark Burdis announced Rogan’s retirement at the beginning of round seven, due to a damaged left arm.  The 38-year-old’s fabulous run that reignited a stagnant domestic scene had come to an abrupt end.

In the dressing room post-fight, an assured Sexton felt he had settled the score after a controversial ending to the first contest.  “I came over here last time as a big underdog and I did the job then; I came back to prove a point and I think I did more than enough tonight,” said Sexton.

“It was a hostile crowd, as expected, and the Belfast people were behind their man but maybe I’ll get the credit I deserve for coming back here when I didn’t have to.  He was throwing some good body shots but I’m well covered to the body and no one’s ever going to the hurt me down there.  He definitely didn’t pose me any more problems than last time.  Rogan can punch and he’s strong but I’m stronger and the better man.”

Sexton acknowledged that the fifth round was a turning point, but hard training and preparation enabled him to pull through and come back stronger to finish the bout.  “I wasn’t really surprised by the finish,” added Sexton. “I said I was getting stronger all time and any other fighter would have gone down from my shots so all respect to Martin Rogan, he has a tough chin and they were solid shots I was throwing - I could feel them rocking him every time.

“I’m by far the fittest I’ve ever been and we’ve added different things to training; I’m very excited about the rest of my career and I’m a fresh 25.  No matter that I’m due to fight for the British title because it is already mine and if we can do bigger fights before that then we’ll take them but the British title is a certainty.  Nobody in Great Britain will stand up to me.”

Concluding, Sam cast doubts on the reasons for the pullout.  “I’m a fair man and I don’t run people down but was there an injury [to Rogan]?” he asked.  “These shots I threw were solid and it took it out of him, breaking his heart.  Remember that I’m a sharp, big fella and I fight like a light-heavyweight using the jab and moving around the ring.”

Manager and show promoter Frank Warren was equally as enthusiastic.  “Sam fought a great fight and he should get the credit for coming to the other guy’s backyard again,” he added.

In the pick of the Sexton-Rogan undercard, former world title challenger Neil Sinclair showed his class when dismantling outgunned Hungarian Janos Petrovics inside four rounds of a scheduled eight.  Levels above, Sinclair (11st 2llb 8oz) went through the full repertoire of jabs, left hooks to the body and head and uppercuts as the journeyman struggled to stay competitive.  The pre-fight talk was of a European title challenge to Ryan Rhodes (or a vacant crack if Ryan chases world honours) and that is not out of the question considering Neil’s recent run of form.  He ripped through the decent Henry Coyle in this very arena in May, turning a reasonably even fight into a mismatch.  Petrovics was not of any renowned standard but, interestingly, he did extend the aforementioned Rhodes until the seventh round in the Ulster Hall in April.

That stoppage was from body shots and Neil wasted no time in testing Petrovics’ wobbly waist with some early blows to the midsection. Right hands and left hooks continued to land with alarming frequency through the second and third rounds’, with referee Ian-John Lewis keeping a close eye on the away man’s swelling face.  Another combination, ending with a shot to the gut, had Petrovics (11st 2llb) dropping for some relief on the canvas.  He rose for more but the referee had rightly seen enough and waved it off, 28 seconds into the fourth.  Sinclair had won every second of the fight and can still hold influence at a good level.

Looking to engineer another crack at one of the domestic titles’, super-featherweight Kevin O’Hara posted a 59-56 win over diminutive Londoner Mickey Coveney.  I scored it wider than referee Victor Loughlin at 60-55 for O’Hara, giving Coveney a share of one round, which was perhaps harsh, given the southpaw’s efforts, but O’Hara (9st 8llb 12oz) was always in control. Electing to plant his feet and trade more than box, Kevin found a home for the left-hook all the way through this six-rounder yet found Coveney- technically better than I expected- to be tough as old boots.

Reddened around the cheeks from an early stage, Mickey soaked up the harder shots of former star amateur ‘Sweet Pea’ and came back with plenty of his own.  As basic as it may sound, Coveney’s shorter arms meant he found it difficult to land his hooks unless in close to O’Hara’s chest.  Kevin made use of the left hook and right hand – staple shots against the southpaw- to good effect, yet Coveney (9st 7llb 4oz) refused to budge.  The pace slowed slightly in the fifth as the visitor took a share but he ate some heavy leather in the last session as O’Hara piled it on for a stoppage that was just beyond him on this occasion.

While Sinclair and O’Hara contested slightly longer distances, the remainder of the card all participated over 4x3’s.

Flyweight debutant Jamie Conlan may have been making his first professional start but you could tell even from these early stages that he has a touch of class.  Conlan (8st 4llb) dealt well with the unpredictable style of opponent Anwar Alfadi (typically honed in the Ingle stable) whose exaggerated movements and off-balance punching made for frustrating viewing.  Jamie, kitted out in glitzy red shorts, used his jab to try and measure Alfadi (8st 2llb 12oz) before introducing the right hands, which started to fall short as Anwar bobbed and weaved out of range.

A solid right in the second round brought a nod of appreciation from the visitor who has yet to register a pro victory, but can mess anyone around and has never been stopped.  The popular home fighter was well in control and his cuffing shots kept Alfadi ‘honest’ throughout, without really catching him clean.  The night’s work was only slightly spoiled in the dying seconds of the fight when a seemingly innocuous head clash opened a cut on Conlan’s scalp.  The 22-year-old scaled the ropes to celebrate, while blood gushed from the wound down the side of his face and hopefully it is not so serious as to keep him out of action for any significant period of time (he later told me it required six stitches).  For the record I gave Conlan every round, while referee Ian-John Lewis saw it marginally closer at 39-37.

Local crowd pleaser Ciaran Healy is a win-some, lose-some, kind of fighter and his frustrating form continued with a 39-38 points reverse to Lee Noble on referee Ian-John Lewis’s scorecard – I had it one point wider in Noble’s favour.  Healy was puffing forward from the off while Noble switched and used the jab, but worryingly moved backwards in straight lines when tagged.  Luckily for him, Ciaran (11st 9llb) did not exploit this flaw and I had the away man taking the opening two rounds with his better punch economy and some stiff right hands.  Healy has never liked it to the body and Lee (11st 10llb 8oz) landed some meaty shots to back his man up, before the Belfast native took the third on work rate.

It was all set up for a big last round but both men were a little gassed and even though Healy started strongly, Noble was again landing the right hands and picking his punches well.  Healy is a bit of a boxing nomad and had Paul McCullach in his corner, imploring his charge to throw more of the slapping flurries that had earlier unnerved his Ingle-opponent.  He couldn’t sustain it and Noble’s arm was correctly raised with no complaints. Light-middleweight Gary O’Sullivan was at ringside with trainer Paschal Collins, obviously watching closely, as O’Sullivan challenges Healy for the Irish title in his native Cork on 28th November.

In the show opener, Joe Rea went through the motions while out pointing game but limited Phil Townley, who was making his debut after linking up with Alan Wilton.  While John Breen was off in Magherafelt master minding Paul McCloskey’s European title effort, assistant Eamonn Magee deputised in the corner for the entire stable. Rea (11st 2 ¾llb) timed the slower Townley (11st 7llb) with right hands and switched to southpaw in a bid to confuse the former soldier.  Phil was focused and watched his man closely, trying his own lead punches but receiving spiteful counters in return, whenever he fell short.  A cut sustained in round one did not curtail Townley’s enthusiasm but may hinder his chances of making the scheduled Belfast Promotions show in two weeks’ time.

Rea investigated the body in round two and this seemed to be a fruitful strategy as lefts to the midriff caused Townley to wince in the third session.  He was still grimacing in the final round when a Rea uppercut landed flush and a stoppage became a distant possibility.  This was Rea’s tenth fight since turning pro in 2004 and the man who was based in America needs to stay active if he is to force his way into title contention.  Scottish referee Victor Loughlin scored it a shutout 40-36.

Rushing out of the blocks to make a statement, Belfast’s well-supported Luke Wilton looked as impressive as I have seen him in a long time, bullying Darlington’s frail-looking Kevin Coglan.  The pale skinned, lean body of Coglan (notably lighter at 7st 3llb 12oz) looked like it might fold under the duress of Wilton’s left and rights’ to head and body.  However, Coglan, a one-fight novice, was made of sterner stuff and shook off a nosebleed to give it a go for the remainder of the four rounds.  Wilton was busy but began telegraphing the right hand a little and smothering his best work as fatigue set in; he started to hunt the body more in the third round.

By the final session, Luke (8st) had found a second wind and Coglan needed every ounce of his resilience to withstand the barrages.  Referee Mr. Loughlin took a closer look as the young visitor rocked back and forth, hanging on and firing back when he could.  The ref rightly awarded the home man every round at 40-36, the same tally as my own.  Luke is still improving and with the lack of depth in his natural light-flyweight division, may get a title opportunity sooner rather than later.