Pierce O’Leary claimed the vacant European super-lightweight title with a unanimous decision victory against an undersized, but no less gallant, Liam Dillon.
The pair collided on the undercard of Fabio Wardley vs Justis Huni, occupying the co-main event slot at Portman Road – home of Ipswich Town Football Club – just moments ago.
Scorecards of 116-112, 115-113 and 117-111 ultimately swung in favour of ‘Big Bang,’ though, with his physical advantages proving decisive.
In short, O’Leary, 17-0 (9 KOs), delivered a strong performance while Dillon, 15-2-1 (3 KOs), whose best wins came down at super-featherweight, gave a titanic effort through 12 rounds.
The opening round saw a lack of action but, even so, O’Leary soon established himself as the more explosive puncher, with one right uppercut, in particular, demonstrating his undeniable power.
Yet Dillon, to his credit, was able to suffocate much of the Irishman’s early attacks, marching forward with a tight guard to successfully close down the distance.
The naturally smaller man then rained in a series of sharp combinations, only for O’Leary to stab him with a sickening body shot in the third round.
At that point, the 25-year-old appeared to remove the wind from Dillon’s sails, dishing out a punishing end to that frame with his relentless pressure.
Dillon, however, displayed his tremendous mettle in the following round, landing a solid overhand right before duplicating the expertly-delivered shot towards the end of the three minutes.
The 29-year-old then seemed to grow in confidence, a beaming smile appearing across his face whenever O’Leary launched a selection of thumping body shots.
And after an encouraging fifth round, Dillon only continued his crafty movement, to which his opponent – seemingly running short of ideas – responded with much of his same, and no less effective, front foot pressure.
The championship rounds then told a similar story, with the Londoner making himself an elusive target – darting in and out of range – while O’Leary got through with the cleaner, more spiteful bombs.
