O'Kane was in scintillating form at the King's Hall last night.

Eamonn O’Kane roared to victory in the all-Irish Betfair Prizefighter Middleweights at the King’s Hall in Belfast, but saw fellow Dungiven fighter Paul McCloskey stopped by ‘Chop Chop’ DeMarcus Corley.

O’Kane defeated JJ McDonagh in the final and was a deserved winner, not least for his part in the fantastic opening quarter-final of the night. The Commonwealth Games gold medallist kicked off the night with a thunderous three round tussle with Anthony Fitzgerald, with the pair roaring out of the blocks and trading lusty blows for the full nine minutes, before O’Kane was given the split decision.

His reward was a semi final with Ryan Greene, who had seen off the challenge of Ciaran Healy in the second quarter final. A clash of heads and a nasty gash affected Greene in the opening round, but even without that he might not have survived the crunching right that floored the Lurgan man after two minutes, giving O’Kane a first round stoppage and crucial recovery time for the final.

The climax was scrappier than his opening two fights, with McDonagh’s height and reach getting him to the final. O’Kane’s work rate negated the Irish super middleweight’s key tactic, and when he was docked a point for a low blow in the final round, that put the seal on the win for the 30 year old with the judges marking the bout 30-27, 30-26 and 29-27 in his favour.

O’Kane moves to 7-0 and will take a step up in his career when he fights on the big Matchroom Sport bill in Belfast in September. With a glittering amateur career behind him, ‘King Kane’ was the hot favourite with the bookies, but afterwards the new champ admitted that it was a dangerous decision to take a spot in the 24^th edition of Matchroom Sport’s eight man, one night tournament, but one he felt he had to take.

“It was a risk to enter but it has paid off 100 per cent,” said O’Kane. “I’ve always loved the format and it is almost a free shot to boost your career and leapfrog your rivals. I don’t think any of the boys who lost here tonight have been damaged by their defeats as it was a great show – but my name is out there big time now, and I aim to capitalise.

“I might be a bit short of title contention yet – I haven’t been beyond eight rounds and was only 4-0 before winning here. But I am ready to step up as I’m 30 years old and I don’t want to hang around. I get great training and great sparring and I feel ready, and this win has probably moved me two or three leaps in one night.

“The opening fight was fantastic. I knew Anthony would come and fight and that we would put on a show and that’s what happened. The head clash with Ryan was an unfortunate accident but the punch to stop him would have hurt a lot of people. There was a lot on the line in the final which was probably why it was a bit cagey, but I think I did enough to justify the decision and I’ll take a fortnight off with my family and be itching to get back in the gym.”