By Ben Carey
Rendall Munroe retained his European super-bantamweight crown for the third occasion when challenger Fabrizio Trotta quit midway through round five citing an injury to his wrist at City University in Dublin on December 18.
Trotta sustained his injury when attempting to land an uppercut which Munroe blocked that prompted the Italian to immediately cry out in pain and turn his back as Munroe prepared to follow-up. Prior to the sudden ending, Trotta appeared to be looking for a way out on his stool at the end of the previous session after being repeatedly troubled by Munroe’s hurtful body shots.
The Leicester bin man didn’t have things his own way though. Slow out of the blocks for what looked on paper to be a routine title defence, Munroe was placed onto the back foot by the aggressive Trotta who was brimming with confidence. The Italian ought to have capitalised when a right hand wobbled Munroe in round three but failed to recognise that Rendall’s legs had briefly betrayed him. It served as the wake-up call Munroe needed and he was more assertive from then on, particularly to the body which left Trotta gasping for air in round four.
The European champion’s sloppy opening mirrored his previous title defence against Arsen Martirosyan in September which saw Munroe overcome problems early on before he eventually triumphed on points.
The Leicester southpaw now faces a February rematch against mandatory challenger (and undercard points winner) Kiko Martinez, the man Munroe upset on a majority decision to capture the European title in March. Given Munroe’s tendency to start slowly and Martinez’s reputation as a puncher following his one-round destruction of Ireland’s Bernard Dunne, picking a winner isn’t easy.
In the evening’s chief support, Nottingham veteran Jason Booth looked as good as ever when retaining his Commonwealth bantamweight crown with a tenth round stoppage of Pontefract nearlyman Sean Hughes.
The dominant Booth seldom wasted a punch in gradually breaking Hughes down and maintained a decent pace throughout. Body shots had Hughes sagging in a one-sided ninth and another right hand to the body dropped Hughes moments into round ten. The Yorkshireman courageously rose to continue his lost cause but was sensibly retired by his corner at the end of the round.
Next up for Booth could be St Helens dangerman Gary Davies who inflicted the fourth consecutive defeat on former British bantamweight champion Martin Power with a shock second round win. Power was drawn into a scrap by the eager Davies and rocked by a big right hand against the ropes. Instead of attempting to hold in order to clear his head, Power fought back but was nailed by a huge uppercut which left him retreating on unsteady legs. A further sustained barrage of blows brought about the referee’s intervention prompting a jubilous (and arguably unsporting) celebration from Davies who celebrated the biggest win of his career.
2008 Olympic bronze medallist Darren Sutherland, the man who the Dublin crown had really come to see, made a winning pro debut by hammering Bulgaria’s Georgi Illiev in the first round. A body shot knocked the wind of Illiev’s sails and a two-fisted attack that had the Bulgarian reeling was enough to end matters at the 2.44 mark.
Local favourite Paul Hyland, a possible challenger for Ian Napa’s European bantamweight crown, comfortably outboxed Eugene Heagney to post a six round points decision in the night’s other noteworthy action.
