‘King Kane’adds anotherwin in Belfast

The man from Banagher came through a fierce encounter to maintain his unblemished professional record. The only boxer on the ‘Judgement Day’ fight programme without a named opponent, O’Kane had to wait until the day of the bout for someone to step forward and take the fight.

An intimidating-looking Carruthers, covered almost head-to-toe in tattoos, must get some credit for taking the fight at such short notice, but could not deal with the sheer volume of punches thrown by the more athletic O’Kane.

Aside from the difficulties securing an opponent, there were further setbacks for ‘King Kane’s preparation even as he entered the ring, when delays forced him to try and stay warm in a cold stadium more used to ice-hockey than boxing.

The delays were caused by timing problems with Sky Sports, who presumably did not want a fight going on in the background while their commentators pored over the performances of Paul McCloskey and bill-topper Carl Frampton.

Once the bell sounded, neither O’Kane nor his opponent Caurruthers wasted any time getting warmed up. This was a fast, frantic and ferocious fight from the start, with the determined Carruthers hoping to cause an upset by turning the bout into a brawl.

He got through on numerous occasions, but O’Kane’s superior boxing skills had begun to tell by the third, fourth and fifth rounds. In the fifth, Carruthers did well to absorb a series of bone-crunching right hooks, straight into the British fighter’s ribs.

The Englishman fought well, edging the final round, but an O’Kane victory was the inevitable result. Those fans who filtered out of the Odyssey Arena on Saturday night after the main event, Barry McGuigan’s protégé Carl Frampton versus the ‘Canadian Kid’ Steve Molitor, missed a fast-paced bout between two powerful middle-weights.

In an arena with only a core group of boxing fans still remaining after the Sky Sports team and the Carl Frampton fans had left, Eamon O’Kane showed that he can fight as well as box, with his fantastic amateur pedigree proving the difference against a determined, tough and experienced journeyman.

The Commonwealth Gold Medallist and Roe Valley man Eamon O’Kane has now added yet another victory to his fledgling professional record, capping a fantastic night of boxing which also saw Paul McCloskey re-establish his credentials in a convincing victory over Manuel Perez.