Hyland stops Coveney

15 February 2010 – By Steve Wellings

Patrick Hyland admitted on Saturday night that his win over Mickey Coveney was not the finest display we will see from the Tallaght native.

But sometimes getting the job done is the main thing. Hyland did just that courtesy of a crunching right hand in the seventh round to put the gloss over a performance that, in promoter Brian Peters’ words, lacked a bit of spark.

Coveney thought that once he had got the first few rounds out of the way he had felt Hylands power and could take it, added Peters, but the finisher was the hardest he had been hit.

Patrick was lacking a bit of spark tonight but taking nothing away from Coveney who was a decent opponent. Hes fought Paul Appleby, Kevin OHara and many others and given them all a rough ride; Mickeys better than his record suggests.

I had wondered beforehand whether Hyland could stop the plucky Londoner and retain his Irish featherweight title in style. He did just that but struggled to contain Coveney for long periods and allowed the diminutive southpaw to dictate the pace and frequently land his right hook.

Hyland (8st 13 1/2llb) started by pumping out his familiar jab and followed up with the right hand. Coveney (who struggled to make the stipulated 9 stone) was unperturbed, pushing forward behind his southpaw lead opting for accuracy rather than volume. Patrick got dragged into clinches and copped a few counters as his hands lowered.

Coveney snatched the fourth on my card to narrow the gap but Hyland was still doing enough to nick most of the sessions. When the right hand landed in the seventh it was not only a bolt from the blue for the fans but also for Coveney. He doesn’t often get knocked out but on this occasion was badly shaken and only pride dragged him to his feet. A follow-up assault persuaded ref Emile Tiedt to call a halt at 1.08 of the round.

Receiving a confidence boosting headline slot on RTE was a bonus and it would be a shame if Hyland’s future TV exposure suffers on the back of this showing. He wasn’t particularly impressive on the night but has talent and can certainly push himself into contention for a European title shot if he keeps winning.

Hyland was upbeat after the fight, Good fight, tough opponent, he said.

I see it as a good workout even though I was a bit sluggish in the first few rounds getting to grips with his style and improving the accuracy. These small boys are hard to hit with the ducking and rolling and he was picking his shots against me.

I was off my game for the first four rounds and he wanted the Irish title off me and no doubt trained hard for this opportunity, so hats off to him. I was comfortable and I knew it would come eventually but I was a little frustrated until I got back to my boxing and finished the job. I heard he should have beaten Akaash Bhatia and the board have ordered a rematch, Patrick added.

My hands a bit swollen because punching people hard in the head can hurt a bit!