On This Day: September 14th
2013: Sligo’s Stephen ‘Block’ Reynolds stopped Downpatrick cruiser Declan Trainor at the Devenish Venue in Belfast in the sixth round of a pulsating war.
A back-and-forth affair, Reynolds floored the Ulsterman in the fifth round with a huge right hook, but found himself on the canvas moments later following an explosive counter-right from Trainor.
Reynolds miraculously recovered to see out the round and came on strong in the following stanza, hunting down Trainor and forcing a standing stoppage amidst scenes of pandemonium.
The scrap won the 2013 Irish Fight of the Year, and has been labelled by Irish-Boxing.com chief Jonny Stapleton as “the best fight I have ever seen live.”
Watch the epic contest in full below:
Video courtesy of Doug Matthews
The scheduled eight-rounder was for the Celtic Nations title, and it was hoped by many that a rematch for the Irish title could have been arranged, but it sadly never materialised.
