CAOIMHIN Agyarko scored the biggest win of his career, arriving at short notice in Sheffield to outpoint Birmingham’s Ryan Kelly over 10 rounds.
Judge Manuel Oliver Polomo scored it 95-95, cancelled out by Steve Gray (97-94) and Grzegorz Molenda (96-94) in favour of the Belfast boxer.
The early rounds were fought behind a battle of the jabs. Agyarko started sharply, thrusting out his left stick, ending the opener with a celebratory punch of the air.
Rightly so, as Agyarko’s solid form continued through the early rounds. His raids from out of range to the target were calculated and effective. Kelly kept chipping away and his persistence paid off slightly in the fifth as the Belfastman suffered a cut to the left eye.
Stephen Smith in the corner managed to keep Agyarko calm. ‘Black Thunder’ boxed his back into the contest and then some. By round eight, the resurgent Irish fighter was landing the better shots and pushing Kelly back.
Agyarko finished strongly, landing the jab and left hook, even pushing his own gumshield back in, such was the desire to keep on exchanging.
In the end, Agyarko had his hand raised, moving to 17-0 (7 KOs) while Kelly suffered defeat number six, slipping to 19-6-1 (8 KOS) overall.
