Sutherland battles to victory

30 June 2009 – By Mark Doyle

Darren Sutherland took his professional record to 4-0 with a technical knockout of Gennadiy Rasalev at York Hall on Tuesday night.

The highly-rated Irish super-middleweight always looked the likely victor and the fight was waved off in the fourth when the referee, Mark Green, decided that Rasalev was in no fit state to continue on account of a nasty gash above the Ukrainians eye.

However, Sutherland did not have things all his own way and he endured a difficult second round, during which he himself suffered a cut to his cheek.

Sutherland, though, made light of the gash and, after regaining his composure in the third, forced the stoppage in the next round, a succession of heavy right hands eventually taking their toll on Rasalevs face.

Sutherland had been scheduled to fight again on June 10, on the undercard of Tony Jeffries clash with in Sunderland.

However, after sustaining a cut in defeating Rasalev, it now remains to be scene if Frank Maloney will risk Sutherland again so soon.