By William Mackay: Heavyweight Commonwealth champion Sam Sexton (13-1, 6 KO’s) defeated former Commonwealth champion Martin Rogan (12-2, 6 KO’s) on Friday night with a retirement at the end of the 6th round at the Odyssey Arena, in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Rogan, 38, looked old and tired at the end of the 6th round, after taking an enormous amount of punishment to the head during the round.

It was said later that Rogan had injured his arm during the fight and couldn’t continue. However, Rogan looked badly gassed out throughout the 6th after going all out in the 5th trying to take the younger 25-year-old Sexton out. Rogan looked great in the 6th, landing big uppercuts and hooks to the head of Sexton.

However, Rogan was unable to put together enough hard shots to take Sexton out. If Rogan’s stamina had held together for another two or three rounds, he would have likely been able to take Sexton out if he could have duplicated his efforts during the 5th round. Unfortunately, Rogan had nothing left after expending a lot of energy in the 5th.

Up until the 5th, Rogan had not looked as aggressive as he had in earlier fights. He didn’t attack with the same kind of fire that he had against opponents like Audley Harrison and Matt Skelton. It could have been, perhaps, that Rogan was starting to show his age finally.

Sexton, who defeated Rogan by an 8th round stoppage in their last fight in May 2009, fought well in the opening round, moving a great deal, clinching and landing with fast combinations. Rogan looked ill suited for this type of fighting and was slow in cutting off the ring. When he would get close, Sexton would often grab Rogan in a tight clinch to prevent him from throwing any of his big shots.

In the 2nd round, Rogan moved quickly to catch up with the constantly moving Sexton and landed well to the body. It took fast rushing movements for Rogan to catch up to Sexton, however, because the younger fighter wanted no part of standing and trading with Rogan. Late in the round, Sexton grabbed Rogan by the left arm to prevent him from punching. Rogan didn’t hesitate to club Sexton several times with his right hand which was still free.

Sexton looked good in the 3rd and 4th rounds, moving continuously and stopping periodically to throw fast combinations to the head. Sexton did a lot of clinching in both rounds and prevented Rogan from getting his shots off. Rogan still landed in the clinch with right hands to the side and sometimes to the back of Sexton’s head, but they had no effect on Sexton.

In the 5th, Rogan finally came alive for the first time in the fight, firing off big uppercuts to the head and hard body shots. It looked like the Rogan of old as he battered Sexton throughout the round with huge shots, knocking him in the ropes and appearing to hurt him at one point in the round. Rogan was cut above his right eye during the round from a head butt. Other than that, Rogan dominated the entire round. Going into the 6th, it looked like the fight had turned to Rogan’s favor.

However, Rogan looked tired and old in the 6th, breathing hard and looked out of shape. Sexton, seeing that Rogan was tired, all of a sudden started firing off hard combinations and pummeled Rogan throughout the round. After the round ended, surprisingly Rogan’s corner stopped the bout much to the displeasure of the large Irish crowd who booed the stoppage.

Although Rogan suffered an injury during the fight, I hope this is the last time he fights Sexton. I don’t think he matches up well with the younger fighter. Rogan does better against more stationary fighters and the movement from Sexton will continue to be a big problem for Rogan in future fights.

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McCloskey stops Rasilla

BBBofC British light welterweight champion Paul McCloskey (20-0, 10 KO’s) defeated Spaniard Daniel Rasilla (15-3, 4 KO’s) by a 9th round stoppage to capture the vacant EBU (European) light welterweight title at the Meadowbank Sports Arena, Magherafelt, in Northern Ireland. McCloskey, 30, knocked Rasilla down twice in the 9th round. After the second knockdown, the fight was stopped by referee Erkki Meronen at 2:15 of the round.

It was a good stoppage, because Rasilla, 29, had taken a one-sided beating throughout the fight and was never competitive. McCloskey boxed beautifully during the bout, fighting with his hands down by his waist, making Rasilla miss and landing hard counter shots with both hands. McCloskey punched from a variety of angles and it was hard to predict when and where his punches would come from. He looked exceptional like a slower, smaller version of Joe Calzaghe.