Jay Byrne grabs gutsy win in Belfast
Jay Byrne got his 2017 off to a winning start after a scare in Belfast tonight.
Returning to the Europa Hotel and another Mark Dunlop show, the Dubliner scored an immensely hard-fought win over Sandor Jozsa on the ‘Inquisition’ dinner show.
Sporting a new nickname, ‘The Negotiator,’ Byrne showed big guts to negotiate the tricky challenge of his strong Hungarian opponent, and an in-fight injury, to claim victory in a very tough learning fight
Fighting at middleweight, the natural welterweight was drawn into a war in the opening round, taking probably more shots than he had done in his previous two fights combined – albeit landing with a greater number of big shots himself and switching to the body of Jozsa well down the stretch.
The Hungarian, boxing southpaw, slipped to the canvas in the second and no knockdown was, correctly, ruled. Soon after Jozsa would land with a big left that momentarily buzzed the Loughlinstown man, but Byrne would fight back well. Worryingly, Byrne seemed to hurt his left shoulder during the round and was visibly distressed going back to his corner.
Digging deep, Byrne would continue to trade in an even third, before bringing his boxing skills more into play in the second half of the stanza.
The fourth, Byrne’s best, saw him stay on the outside and potshot with the right to claim the round and ensure victory.
Going to the cards, Byrne was awarded all four rounds and a 40:36 win.
The win sees Byrne move to 3(1)-0, while the game Jozsa’s record now reads 3(0)-2(1)-1 following the loss
Like fellow Dubliner Lynn Harvey who had preceded him, Byrne is scheduled to return to action before the end of the month. He was also set to box on the ‘Unfinished Business’ Red Corner Promotions card at the National Stadium and make the step up to six rounds to take on tough Spaniard Sergio Abad – this however has been thrown into extreme doubt following tonight.
Photo Credit: Ricardo Guglielminotti – The Fighting Irish (@ThefIrish)
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Eric Donovan joins Gavan Casey and Joe O’Neill on Episode 2 of the Irish Boxing Show:
