A FIERCELY-CONTESTED super-welterweight battle saw Caoimhin Agyarko emerge victorious, narrowly squeaking past Ishmael Davis with a career-enhancing win on home soil.
The pair squared off at Windsor Park, Belfast, featuring on the undercard of Lewis Crocker vs Paddy Donovan 2 earlier this evening.
Davis, 13-3 (6 KOs), aimed to impose his size early doors, while also switching from orthodox to southpaw, and then back to orthodox, in a bid to perhaps bamboozle Agyarko, 18-0 (7 KOs).
From either stance, both his physical and technical prowess proved effective in the opening round, where Agyarko found himself on the receiving end of several razor-sharp right hands.
The home fighter then enjoyed pockets of success with his jab, only for Davis – his wide shoulders making him seem the much bigger man – to keep swarming forward.
But Agyarko, in fairness, responded with a degree of elusive movement, his sharp feet, as well as the odd eye-catching counter, making for a more encouraging third round.
Again, the Belfast man made ample use of his footwork in the fourth frame, before showcasing an even more comfortable three minutes of fluid boxing on the outside.
Seemingly growing in confidence, Agyarko then landed a series of snappy left hooks, while Davis – utilising his aggression – found plenty of success in the pocket.
Yet despite that, Davis’ corner – shouting, ‘You’re f***ing throwing it’ – felt it was the right time to put a rocket up his backside at the end of the seventh round.
Agyarko, meanwhile, was forced to contend with some nasty swelling beneath his right eye, but nonetheless resumed his crafty movement in the eighth session.
And despite the worsening damage around his eye, the 28-year-old showed plenty of bottle to keep firing, often with a plucky expression written across his face, in the championship rounds.
In what appeared to be caused by a momentary loss of balance, though, Agyarko went down in the 12th round and, rather controversially, referee Michael Alexander decided to issue a count.
But then, when it went to the judges’ scorecards, Agyarko was delighted to discover that two of the ringside officials had it 114-113 in his favour, while judge Howard Foster, on the other hand, scored it 115-112 for Davis.
