Cut Short – Paddy Gallagher cruelly denied domestic double by Chris Jenkins

Paddy Gallagher was cruelly denied the British and Commonwealth titles tonight by the narrowest of margins.

The Belfast welterweight scored a big knockdown but was edged out by a single point by champion Chris Jenkins in the Top Rank Féile an Phobail chief support bout at the Falls Park in Belfast.

A cut suffered by Jenkins lead to a premature end in the ninth of twelve rounds and the reigning British champion was given the nod on a razor-thin technical decision to Gallagher and the 10,000-strong crowd’s despair.

It was almost a glorious win for the ‘The Pat Man’ who had reinvigorated his career to a degree in June with a dominant win over Liam Wells – a make-or-break result which came following a disappointing defeat to Freddy Kiwitt in February.

Jenkins, known as a light welter, had claimed the 147lbs Lonsdale belt with a major upset win over Johnny Garton earlier this year.

It was a cagey start in the Falls Park, with Gallagher looking to leap into range versus the rangier Jenkins.

Things started to open up in the second and the pair did trade, with Jenkins landing the crisper and cleaner shots but the bull-strong Gallagher was letting his prescence be known.

Stalking, Gallagher was shuddering Jenkins which each thudding shot but the Welshman was landing plenty of snappy replies

The faster fighter, Jenkins kept things smart and safe in round four, popping off the jab.

Gallagher then enjoyed a very strong fifth, something which was badly needed. Jenkins seemed hurt and had to endure a prolonged period of pressure from the relentless Lenadoon man.

Cut on the right eyelid, Jenkins rallied at the start of the sixth but the Gallagher train continued to chug and he was starting to do real damage – with the Swansea puncher eventually being sent down in the closing seconds by a pair of left hooks.

Entering the second half of the contest in the ascendancy, Gallagher poured forward while Jenkins kept his elbows tucked firmly in. A low blow from the Irishman lead to a prolonged pause and, when we eventually restarted, the visitor peppered the disrupted Gallagher.

Jenkins was starting to get back into a groove in the eighth but a cut would then open up over his left eye that required an inspection. Passed to fight, the bloodied champion was willing to trade.

However, the end would come in the following round, the cut becoming just too bad and we went to the cards for a technical decision.

Scoring the eight completed rounds along with the half of the ninth, all three judges were in unison scoring it 86-85 in favour of Jenkins.

The win sees Jenkins retain his British title, pick up the Commonwealth belt, and improve to 22(8)-3(0)-2. The luckless Gallagher drops to 16(11)-6(0)