Jamie Conlan edged a split-decision against Nicaraguan Yader Cardoza at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast on Friday night, while Paddy Barnes eased to a six-round points victory over Argentine Adrian Dimas Garzon.
In his second professional bout, three-time Olympian Barnes bagged some welcome rounds although he failed to put journeyman Garzon away despite dominating the fight.
In the main event, Conlan the elder brother of world amateur champion Michael, began patiently against Cardoza before his fondness for getting involved in wars once again emerged – although, in truth, the Nicaraguan dragged the Irishman into one.
Memorable victories over Junior Granados and Anthony Nelson – the latter acknowledged as ‘Fight of the Year’ for 2016 in Britain – had helped give genuine credence to Conlan’s nickname, ‘The Mexican’, considering his all-action style.
But this was a battle he was somewhat lucky to win as he picked up the vacant WBC international super-flyweight title.
Both Conlan and his 28-year-old opponent – a former world-title challenger at light-flyweight – had claimed in the build-up that the bout would be a blood-and-guts clash, but it took a while for their prediction to come true.
Cardoza proved to be a real handful for the home fighter after a fairly patient start from the Belfast man.
Conlan was in trouble in the eighth round as a flurry of shots from the Nicaraguan forced the 30-year-old to take a knee. While no single punch appeared to put him down, the accumulative effect of Cardoza’s attack was enough.
Conlan, showing typical fortitude, battled on and attempted to fight back before holding his foe.
Cardoza attempted to go in for the kill and Conlan looked to be in danger, but the bell came at the right time for him to end the round.
Conlan boxed sensibly in the ninth, working off his jab in impressively composed fashion, but the home fighter’s face was marking up badly by the 10th as a cut under his left eye began to bleed heavily.
The war that had been predicted had finally transpired as both fighters traded liberally in the penultimate round before a tense finish.
A split decision saw two judges favour Conlan – 115-113 and 114-113 – while another scored the contest for Cardoza, 115-112, and the Nicaraguan may claim this had the feel of a hometown decision.
In the chief support bout, Barnes - who is likely to campaign at flyweight (112lbs) but weighed in six pounds heavier for this contest - won every round on referee Hughie Russell Jr’s 60-54 scorecard as the fight went the distance in sharp contrast to Barnes’ pro debut.
Back in November, Bulgarian Stefan Slavchev was disqualified for bizarrely hoisting Barnes up on his shoulder at the Titanic Centre. But the 29-year-old’s second pro outing went more smoothly, with Barnes peppering Garzon’s body before picking off the Argentine to the head en route to a handy win.
The 40-year-old Rio Grande native had previously been stopped in four rounds by Jamie Conlan back in 2015 and while Barnes claimed he would finish Garzon earlier than that, the Belfast man could not live up to that promise.
However, with the former European amateur champion likely to be back in action in May and eager for an early title shot, Barnes at least took the opportunity to shake off his ring rust.
Meanwhile, Belfast duo James Tennyson and Tyrone McKenna both recorded sixth-round stoppage wins over Dublin opposition in domestic title fights.
Twenty-three-year-old Tennyson (18-2) lived up to his puncher’s reputation as he recorded a sixth-round stoppage win over Declan Geraghty (14-2) to reclaim the Irish super-featherweight title.
McKenna (13-0-1) also notched up a sixth-round stoppage, retaining his BUI Celtic light-welterweight title after seeing off Dubliner Jake Hanney (5-1).
Earlier in the night, heavy-handed Phil Sutcliffe Jr recorded a fourth-round stoppage win over Spaniard Miguel Aguilar ahead of his IBF inter-continental light-welterweight title shot against England’s Josh Leather in May.
Tipperary heavyweight Con Sheehan moved to 5-0 with a dominant 80-72 points win over journeyman Ferenc Zsalek, with a big right hand staggering the Hungarian late on in their eigh-rounder, while Seán Turner stopped Croatian Igor Mihajelic in two.
Debutant Lewis Crocker had Hungarian Ferenc Jarko gone in just 67 seconds as the big-hitting Belfast welterweight hinted that he may well deliver on the hype surrounding his potential.
