Paul Hyland Jr claims close victory on Matchroom bill

Paul Hyland Jr scored the biggest win of his career tonight in London.

The Belfast lightweight was picked up to feature on the inaugural Matchroom NXTGEN show at the York Hall where he took on former BBBoC Northern Area champion Peter Cope.

An entertaining scrap, Hyland would overcome a strong start from Cope to squeak out an eight-round points win in what was a real clash of styles.

A fast start saw both trade shots from the off before Cope had a very strong second round.

Hyland responded well in the third against the cute Hartlepool fighter before Cope again wrestled his way back on top in the fourth with some classy counters.

The English southpaw began to slow in the fifth, but still managed to land some quality shots as Hyland continued to pour forward. The Lagmore fighter then started to take control in the sixth round as his relentless style started to pay dividends.

The seventh saw the two go to war, with the Sky Sports viewers getting to see the Belfast war machine in full flow, and Hyland would be the busier fighter in an absorbing three minute.

With it all still to play for in the final round, Hyland again continued to be the aggressor to see out the fight.

Going to the referee’s scorecard, Hyland was awarded the bout on a tally of 78:76 to move to 15(5)-0. The impressive Cope drops to 14(0)-4(1) after his showing.

Ith the potentially break-out win now in the bag, Hylo will be hopeful that he will be called upon to feature on future Matchroom bills.