Successful step up for Tinker – Kelly scores upset of the year
Matthew Tinker successfully register another small step up on a card that saw Jimmy Kilrain Kelly register an upset of the year candidate.
Unbeaten light heavyweight Tinker extended his unbeaten start with a victory over an American at the Whitesands Events Center in Plant City, Florida.
The former St Francis amateur successfully navigated another step up as he out-scored Brandon Maddox over six rounds.
Maddox asked questions of the National Elite Championship finalist, questions Tinker ultimately had the answer to, claiming a 58-56, 58-56, 59-55 win.
Manchester born Kelly whose father hails from Kilkenny scored a ten round majority decision over previously unbeaten Kanat “QazaQ” Islam.
The two time Olympian and WBO#8 came to the ring as 20-1 on favourite but was outboxed by a fighter who often talks up his Irish roots and recently sought a BUI licence. Kelly, a former Dennis Hogan foe, won by a scorecard of 95-95, 96-94, 97-93 and picked up the vacant WBO global title.
“I thought I won every round,” said Kelly. “I even hurt my hand and could only box with my jab during the last four rounds. Despite that, I still feel I won every round. I felt his pressure, but I didn’t feel his power. Kanat was looking for the counter all night, but I didn’t let him do it.”
