Mixed results for Irish Pro Boxers on Scotland show

There was mixed results for Irish boxers in Scotland tonight with a win and a draw.

Crumlin prospect Cian Doyle extended his unbeaten record but Athlone debutant Cheyanne O’Neill was held to a draw on the Kynoch-Probellum bill in Glasgow.

Young featherweight Doyle eased past Steven Maguire while O’Neill slipped to a surprising stalemate against Lithuanian Vaida Masiokaite.

First up on the Crowne Plaza dinner show was Doyle who won every round against the grizzled Maguire. The Dubliner had debuted late last year, breezing past Luke Fash on a Celtic Clash bill in Belfast and it was more of the same here.

A regular on the scene, ‘Livewire’ Maguire proved he is dangerous last month when he dropped well-backed debutant Liam McHugh and stopped him in three rounds but Doyle, a good underage amateur, had too much skill and took a 40-36 nod on the referee’s card. He now improves to 2(0)-0 while 36-year-old Maguire slips to 2(1)-27(6)-1.

Towards the top of the bill, light welter O’Neill ran out of gas against the game Masiokaite over six.

An Elite finalist and EU Youth silver medallist, 26-year-old O’Neill was an amateur of note and was willing to go in the deep end here early against unbeaten African Games medallist Nancy Moreira but a fight week change pitched her up against Masiokaite – and the journeywoman took her chance.

The Baltic boxer has been extremely busy on the British circuit in recent times, taking rounds off Ebonie Jones and Natasha Jonas last year. More recently she was whitewashed by top prospect Caroline Dubois but gave another debutant in Kirsty Hill a real scare last month when she came out the wrong side of a 58-57 scorecard.

Masiokaite was game here too, and came on strong in the second half of the bout to claim a deserved draw. O’Neill’s pedigree was evident in spurts and she targeted the body well initially but the Lithuanian would not lie down, particularly in a spirited fifth round where she caused the Irishwoman some trouble.

In the end, a 57-57 result was fair and O’Neill’s pro record starts out at 0-0-1 while a delighted Masiokaite moves to 2(1)-16(1)-5.