Bloody stalemate – McCarthy and Blaney draw in Celtic title fight

There was blood, guts, but ultimately no glory for either Craig McCarthy or Chris Blaney in Bolton tonight [Saturday].

The BUI middleweight Celtic title will be going back to Boxing Union of Ireland offices tomorrow morning and not to the mantle piece of either Irish fighter, as the first ever BUI Celtic title fight to take place in England ended in a draw.

The fight ended 76-76 apiece, as a what promised to be an exciting all Irish affair somewhat disappointed on the ‘Local Rivals’ card in Bolton.

A draw seemed a fair enough result, although there will be arguments the result could have gone either way.

McCarthy seemed the busier, but Blaney looked to be landing the more telling and significant punches.

Ironically the Navan man, who questioned whether McCarthy could do eight after cutting down from from super middle, looked the more tired down the stretch.

In fact it looked like the Waterford fighter had a chance to secure a stoppage win in the seventh. Blaney looked to be waning and McCarthy’s shots looked to be doing damage. However, ‘The Ginja Ninja’ made it to the eight and the final bell after which the referee couldn’t separate them.

Both fighters had to deal with cuts over the left eye, cuts that were worthy of being inspected by the ringside doctors and both were also warned for infringements on numerous occasion during a scrappy fight.

Both also seemed to accept the result and although disappointed they were not demonstrative with regard to the draw.

The stalemate prevents one from really kicking on early in 2020. The winner would have looked for an Irish title fight, but a rematch looks more likely.

The result see’s Blaney move to 12-2-2 while McCarthy suffers the first blot on his slate, which now reads 7-0-1.

More to follow