Paddy Barnes’ hopes of making Irish boxing history by winning a World title in only his sixth professional contest came to a crushing end on Saturday night in Belfast at the heavy hands of WBC World flyweight champion Cristofer Rosales.
Barnes, fighting in his home-city on the undercard of his good friend Carl Frampton’s WBO interim featherweight title defence against Luke Jackson, enjoyed massive support from the Belfast faithful and fought a competitive and crowd-pleasing contest right up till the closing seconds of the fourth round when a vicious Rosales body shot put him down and out for the count.
The boxing world’s attention was fixed on last night’s card largely due to the presence of former heavyweight world champion Tyson Fury in the second fight of his boxing comeback this year. The expectation was that Fury would ease past prohibitive underdog Francesco Pianeta, setting up a mammoth heavyweight clash against WBC champion Deontay Wilder, and so it proved.
There was, however, a sizeable chunk of the boxing fraternity who felt that Barnes’ world title challenge had the chance to steal the show. ‘The Leprechaun’ has emerged as one of the most popular figures in Irish boxing and boasts an impressive amateur pedigree, being a two-time Olympic bronze medallist.
Accomplished former amateur boxers are increasingly being fast-tracked upon turning professional and the likes of Vasyl Lomachenko have demonstrated that an extensive background in the unpaid ranks can fully compensate for lack of professional experience. With Barnes already thirty one years old – an advanced age for a flyweight – stepping up to the plate early was not so much a gamble as a necessity.
Defending champion Rosales – fighting out of Managua, the capital of Nicaragua, where the legendary Alexis Arguello and Roman Gonzalez also hail from – was regarded as a tough proposition, but certainly beatable. He had won the title in his last fight by stopping Daigo Higa on the road in Japan in a major upset, showcasing power, toughness, relentlessness and a great engine.
Rosales did, however, have previous losses on his record to the U.K.’s Andrew Selby and current WBA super-flyweight champion Kal Yafai early in their respective careers; fights in which he was competitive but clearly and cleanly out-boxed, which must have been a source of encouragement for Barnes, the technically superior and faster fighter.
With this in mind, the strategy adopted by Barnes from the opening bell was a source of puzzlement. He set a fast pace, throwing plenty of leather, but ate some heavy shots in return from Rosales, the much bigger man. Barnes clearly felt their weight, while the shots he threw bounced off the teak-tough Nicaraguan like flies from a windscreen. Rosales beat his chest and gestured to Barnes to keep throwing, clearly enjoying the fight which he had found himself in through his opponent’s doing. A fire fight might not have been to Barnes’ best advantage, but he was giving his home crowd value for money and they loved it.
The home fighter was demonstrating superior speed and movement to outmanoeuvre Rosales, but also staying in the pocket for too long, allowing the champion to land more damaging shots. Round three was an excellent one for Rosales who upped his work-rate, bullied Barnes to the ropes and connected with some big hooks upstairs. Barnes gamely returned fire and enjoyed some success of his own, but one got the impression that he was slowly being broken down by Rosales’ relentless pressure and would surely not be able to make it to the late rounds if the fight continued at this pace.
It never got there.
After the third round, Rosales’ corner could be heard imploring him in their native Spanish to target Barnes to the body more. It proved sage advice. Round four continued very much in the vein of the third with Barnes fighting smart in spots but too often playing into Rosales’ hands by standing right in front of him and trading punches, much to the delight of the crowd.
In the dying seconds of the round, Barnes connected with a good left hook to the body. Rosales barely flinched however and responded with an ever better right uppercut to the solar plexus that sucked all fighting life out of the Irishman. He collapsed to the canvas, a writhing ball of agony. Referee Victor Loughlin could have counted to 20 and Barnes would still have had zero chance of rising on time. He eventually made it to his feet and sportingly congratulated the champion.
True to form, he appeared irrepressible in the aftermath of the fight, finding the time to tweet about its conclusion and taking his seat in the audience to watch Frampton in action against Jackson. However, he subsequently complained of feeling dizzy and was taken out of Windsor Park on a stretcher and onto hospital as a precautionary measure.
Barnes is a well-liked fighter among his peers, fans and boxing media and his defeat triggered numerous expressions of support from all these quarters. His effort was not found wanting and he gave the audience plenty of excitement in the fight’s short duration, but his game-plan – whether or not the result of idiosyncratic Irish optimism – left a lot to be desired. He demonstrated glimpses of world-class ability and one cannot write off his chances of fulfilling his dream of becoming a World champion should he employ it more consistently in the future.
However, at thirty-one-years-of-age, time is ticking.
For the victorious champion Rosales on the other hand, it’s a second big win on the road and, having rebuilt and learned from away defeats to Selby and Yafai, he can now be regarded as one the best flyweights in the world. He may not be the second coming of his countryman, Roman Gonzalez – but his size, durability, power and sheer relentlessness will give anyone in his weight class problems. Still only twenty-three-years-old, it’s almost inevitable that he will improve further.
Following on from his Belfast triumph, there are plenty of options available to Rosales: a return to British shores to face his one-time-conqueror Selby, who has already called for the fight on social media, is one possibility. Unification fights against fellow flyweight titleholders Artem Dalakian, Moruthi Mthalane and the winner of the upcoming all-Japanese showdown between WBO champion Sho Kimura and Kosei Tanaka may be even more attractive options. Considering Rosales’ relative youth and that he is huge for the 112lbs limit, a move up to the super flyweight division where even more formidable opponents lie in waiting is another possibility.
Times looking are good for the young man from Managua, but the future may be brighter yet.
Article by: Paul Lam
Follow Paul on Twitter at: @PaulTheWallLam