Connor “The Kid” Coyle continued his march towards a world title last Sunday with a seventh round TKO victory over the awkward Sladan Janjanin in defense of his North American Boxing Association middleweight title at the Caribe Royale in Orlando, Florida.
“Great fight!” the Derryman told the Echo. “The guy was a survivor. He knew how to hang on -- he was hard to pin down, but once I started landing the hard shots, he didn’t want to know.”
According to fightnews.com, Janjanin out of Bosnia & Herzegovina, seemed more intent on frustrating Coyle rather than making any genuine attempt at winning the scheduled 10-rounder. He clowned around while Coyle, game face on, was intent on taking him out with head and body shots.
And once Coyle upped the ante with his big shots, Janjanin wilted. He was in trouble at the end of the seventh stanza from a barrage of shots and when the bell sounded, his corner decided that he’d taken enough punishment and refused to let him out for the eighth round.
Ranked ninth globally by the World boxing Association [WBA], Coyle bettered his ledger to 8-0 [8 KOs] while Janjanin dropped to 34-14 with 24 KOs.
Coyle, who fights out of Pinellas Park, Florida, and is trained by Florida Boxing Hall of Famer Jim McLaughlin, captured the NABA belt last May with a tough points decision over Antonio Todd. He was scheduled to meet another fellow unbeaten fighter, Felix Cash, for the WBA Intercontinental title, at London’s O2 Arena in October. But the card was cancelled after main event participant Conor Benn failed a drug test.
MIGHTY TRIUMPH
Westmeath southpaw “Mighty” Joe Ward chalked up another win at Madison Square Garden last weekend with a unanimous points victory over big punching French light heavyweight Frederic Julan in their eight-rounder.
Ward displayed the skills that made him one of Ireland’s most decorated amateurs in a commanding performance. He was tested, though.
The tough Julan opened up a cut above Ward’s right eye in the fourth heat and connected with some good shots that Ward took well.
All three judges had Ward winning seven of the eight rounds, two of the officials by scores of 79-73 while the other had it 78-74.
It was Ward’s fourth appearance at the famed Garden since his unfortunate debut there in October 2019 when he blew a knee in the second round against Marco Delgado. He avenged that TKO loss to Delgado in March 2021.
Ward is now 8-1 [4 KOs], while Julan slid to12-2 [10 KOs].
MICK EXPLOSION
At Belfast’s SSE Arena, world-ranked Michael “Mick” Conlan exploded early in a first round knockout of Frenchman Karim Guerfi before a raucous crowd.
Conlan was on the offensive from the first bell and quickly raining blows on Guerfi until the former European featherweight champion crumpled to the canvas.
The Belfastman improved to 18-1 [9 KOs], while raising his stock in the world rankings. His seventh in both the WBA and WBC, and ninth in WBO and IBF. Guerfi dropped to 31-7 [9 KOs].
