Thomas O'Toole celebrates victory and his new title in Quincy.
Thomas “The Kid” O’Toole scored a third round TKO over Russell Kimber at the packed Quincy Youth Arena in Quincy, Massachusetts, last weekend to capture the vacant Massachusetts light heavyweight title.
The slick Galway southpaw hit Kimber with everything in his vast arsenal. He floored the brave Kimber twice in the second stanza and five more times in the third. Kimber showed heart, rising after each knockdown.
But referee Melissa Kelly had seen enough after his fifth trip to the canvas in the third and mercifully halted the beatdown with one second remaining on the clock. The bout was scheduled for six rounds.
“I wouldn’t say this was the best performance,” said O’Toole, who fights out of Braintree, Mass. “But this was the best atmosphere in Boston I’ve fought in. I knew I could break him down and maybe I should have stopped him a little earlier. I’d like to get back in the ring again this summer and then a couple more times before the end of the year.”
He upped his record to 10-0 [7 KOs], while Kimber is now 2-2.
ROCKIN' ACTION
At the Paramount in Huntington, Long Island, Dubliner Ryan O'Rourke returned to the ring after a year-long injury-induced layoff and remained undefeated after a tough scrap with game Polish welterweight Michal Bulik. The “Silent Assassin” won via a six-round unanimous points decision.
They fought inside and outside, with the southpaw Bulik trying to keep O’Rourke off balance while catching him with looping punches. An overhand right drew blood over O’Rourke’s left eye, but the wound would never be a problem. O’Rourke stepped it up as the rounds progressed, out landing the Pole, whose gear seemed stuck in reverse.
In the end, the three judges scored the fight 59-55, 59-56 and 58-56 in O’Rourke’s favor. He improved to 11-0 [3 KOs]. Bulik dropped to 6-7 [2 KOs].
Also on Joe DeGuardia's Star Boxing “Rockin' Fights 47” card, John McDonagh battled to a split draw with squat Canadian super middleweight Tevin Terrance after a thrilling four round firefight.
Terrance came to fight and made his intentions known early by negating McDonagh’s boxing style, even after being hurt early by a left hook. They got into a war instead, which favored the shorter Terrance. He'd bloodied McDonagh’s left eyebrow by the end of the second round.
But McDonagh, with boxing genes from both sides of his family, dug in and took the upper hand in the third and fourth rounds. He connected repeatedly, mostly with thudding hooks, to leave his man with a bloody nose and mouth at the final bell.
One judge had McDonagh winning 39-37. The other scored it 39-37, while the third official called it a 38-38 draw.
For McDonagh, however, his second professional fight [1-0-1] felt like a loss.
“I'm just disappointed with my performance. Personally, I'll take that as a loss,” he told the Echo. “I should [have been], you know, sticking and moving, working the jab, long range punches, one twos, and [moving] in and out [and] by the time he goes to counter I should have been gone already.”
“Rematch” was the one word on many fans’ lips after the entertaining fight, and McDonagh would gladly welcome one. “I’d like to have a rematch. I know it wasn't myself [Saturday night], so there's no chance of me losing to someone like that,” he said.
McDonagh, who’s 29, is the nephew of former professional heavyweight Seamus McDonagh. Another uncle, namesake John McDonagh, was an amateur champion, while grandfather “Big Jim” McDonagh also boxed.
