Tommy McCarthy blasts his way to win over Blaise Mendouo
Tommy McCarthy was given a nice test early on on the big ‘Frampton Reborn’ bill in Belfast, and claimed a win to round off his year.
Just a month on from his comeback win on the Burnett-Zhakiyanov undercard, the Lenadoon cruiserweight returned to the SSE Odyssey Arena for another six rounder.
While he had an easy first round knockout win over Peter Hegyes last time out, here McCarthy was faced with a much tougher opponent in Cameroonian Blaise Mendouo.
The Manchester-based African is a Commonwealth bronze medalist and Olympian, and has forged a living on the British and Irish scene as a high-level, dangerous journeyman.
Indeed in recent times he has run a number of domestic names, such as Simon Vallily and sam Hyde, very close – however McCarthy had too much in a fight which began slow but finished fast.
Two counter punchers, the opening round between the pair saw barely a punch thrown as both boxers sized each other up.
The fight opened up ever so slightly in the second, with McCarthy landing a nice flurry early on and a big backhand in the closing minute, but it was still intensely cagey.
The squat Mendouo began to come forward in the third round, allowing McCarthy to start firing shots off the ropes.
McCarthy finally made a big impression in the fourth with a sensational salvo of hooks and uppercuts that had the ultra-durable Mendouo momentarily rocked
The entertaining action continued into the fifth, and McCarthy almost had Mendouo down in the closing stages with a flurry that staggered the visitor.
The Cameroonian never stopped coming, and finished the fight strongly, pressing McCarthy to the final bell.
Going to the cards following a competitive bout, McCarthy claimed a 60:55 win, with the first round looking likely to have been the drawn stanza.
‘The Mac Attack’ now moves to 11(6)-1(0), while the game Mendouo drops to 4(1)-8(1).
With two quickfire comeback wins in the bag, and memories of 11 months of inactivity behhind him, McCarthy will now turn his attentions to domestic titles in the new year.
