The all-Dublin rematch between Jono Carroll and Declan Geraghty certainly delivered on the hype.
Four years ago in Dublin's 3Arena, Jono Carroll and Declan Geraghty's fight of the night was stopped early. Carroll ended up getting his hand raised after his adversary was disqualified in the fourth round for use of his head. Geraghty had been up on the scorecards despite having a point deducted.
Since then, Geraghty dropped another loss. James Tennyson scored a TKO over the Dubliner to claim the vacant BUI Ireland National Super Featherweight Title. Meanwhile, Carroll maintained his pristine professional record, picking up the IBF Inter-Continental Super-Featherweight Champion along the way.
That belt went on the line for their rematch on the undercard of Mick Conlon's Belfast homecoming in the SSE Arena on Saturday night.
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Removing all doubt
In the opening round, it appeared as though Geraghty was on course to prove that he was the better boxer. It was a closely-contested round, but bookies' favourite Geraghty took it. A cut opened up on Carroll's forehead resulting from a clash of heads. The blood only seemed to spur Carroll on. He was clearly out for Geraghty's.
Rounds two through nine were all Carroll's. There was a notable momentum shift towards Carroll in the second as he began having more success with his brawling style. He scored a knockdown in the third when Geraghty put his glove down on the canvas to spare himself from being finished by a vicious barrage of body shots.
All that digging to the body took its toll on Geraghty. It became apparent that his energy was being sapped quickly in the fourth. In the fifth, he even received a warning from the referee for turning his back to Carroll.
Carroll went on the hunt for the finish for the remainder of the fight. Geraghty showed great heart to stay in it as long as he did. In the eighth, he was handed a bit of an opening. Another clash of heads opened up a big gash on Carroll's head. However, Carroll couldn't give a fuck. He stuck his tongue out and shook his head from side to side as the blood dripped onto the canvas.
The finish came in the ninth. Carroll marched forward with another relentless barrage. Geraghty looked out on his feet and wasn't throwing any return fire. So the referee stepped in to award Carroll the TKO victory.
The result sees Carroll improve to 16-0 while Geraghty falls to 17-3.
