Rising stars shine as Rumble In The Hills boxing show raises the roof in Letterkenny

Callum Bradley wants to enter title territory in the next year - and the Omagh man landed his first stoppage win in Letterkenny to stay firmly on track.

‘Cool’ Callum Bradley put Piotr Gudel to the sword in the headline act at the Rumble In The Hills, Rising Stars card in Letterkenny on Saturday night.

A boisterous crowd of around 1,200 were on their feet throughout a night - promoted by Jason Quigley of Sheer Sports Management - that showcased some of Ireland’s leading prospects.

Omagh super-featherweight Bradley is touted as one of Ireland’s hottest prospects and a relentless pursuit of Gudel paid dividends in the fourth round.

Bradley said beforehand he was ‘ready to push on up the ladder’ - and he’s now 8-0.

The crowd were Ole Oleing by the end of the opening verse, by which time referee Padraig O'Reachtagain had counted Gudel twice.

Bradley unloaded the gun shortly after the first and it wasn’t long  before Gudel was starry-eyed in the blue corner. 

In the second round, the third man in the ring had two counts, with Gudel kicking a corner pad in a show of frustration.

Bradley, a three-time Irish amateur champion, was using Gudel as target practice for the most part and, under another barrage of punches from Bradley, the Pole heard the familiar digits being counted in the third.

A blistering left by Bradley atop the arm of the until-then dogged Gudel finally broke the resistance. 

Enniskillen super-feather Rhys Owens stopped Stefan Nicolae for a debut win.

Owens, co-managed by Jason Quigley and Jamie Conlan, brought over 200 fans from Erneside - and they were in raptures after a third round stoppage. 

But for the buzz of the bell at the end of the second, Nicolae might not have entered the third - but thanks to a relentless Owens he didn’t get to the end of the third. 

The Romanian was on his hunkers after a tidy clip by Owens, but he managed to get to the stool. 

Danny Duffy moves to 3-0 after a 40-35 win over Ricky Starkey following an entertaining if sometimes unpleasant four rounds against Ricky Starkey.

Duffy landed a good right hook in the opening verse and, showing some nifty footwork, arrowed a neat combination, but Starkey hit back on the counter. 

The experienced ‘Battallion Stallion’ Starkey, who came in here with a 2-33-2 record, implored Duffy to attack him in the second round.

Ref’ Paul McCullough counted Starkey in the final minute of the third, the visiting fighter voicing his displeasure as the official began to raise his fingers.

Duffy put Starkey down in the fourth and Duffy took the win

Eoghan Lavin pulled off a first round stoppage in a middleweight matchup with Kristaps Zulgis.

The Ballyhaunis man, with coach and former WBA lightweight titlist Anthony Crolla in his corner, needed only 98 seconds to grab his latest win, moving to 7-0, (3KOs)

The 22-year-old landed a deadly right hand to Zulgis’s left temple. He looked like he might, just, beat the count, but was unable to continue.

‘Hands of Stone’ Jason Myers lived up to his billing again.

Myers stopped Kevin Kirchner in 126 seconds of the first round to move to 4-0 (3KOs).

Myers and Kirchner - a 23-year-old German - traded solid blows in the early exchanges, but a monster right hand by Myers was a snapshot of what was to come.

Limerick cruiserweight Kian Hedderman’s perfect start to life as a pro continued as he ended Mateusz Piorkowsk’s night after just 1:55 of the first round.

Our Lady Of Lourdes BC graduate Hedderman has sparred with the likes of Joseph Parker and Ben Whittaker since ditching the vest having won two Irish U22 titles and an Intermediate crown.

Hedderman had the 34-year-old Piorkowsk down three times and the end was there before referee Padraig O'Reachtagain formally called it.

In the build-up to the card promoter Quigley billed Tiernan Bradley as no longer a prospect: “He is a contender”, Quigley declared.

Bradley bagged the sixth stoppage of his pro career with a vicious right in the third round of his clash with Brice Bula Galo and now stands 11-0-1 (6KOs).

The end came two minutes and 33 seconds into the third round.

Bradley, out of the southpaw stance.,showed a good range of tools in a busy opening round from the Brighton-based Omagh welter.

‘The Gun’ Galo tested Bradley’s midriff with a good left in the second, but Bradley, showing good head movement, replied in kind.

Bradley - who shared a draw with Ben Crocker at York Hall in April when the IBF European title was on the line - rocked Galo in the third and momentarily the blue corner man looked in trouble. The Congo-born 39-year-old managed something of a wild riposte.

The fight seemed to be settling somewhat, but Bradley left Galo seeing stars in a neutral corner. Soon, Bradley was mounting the turnbuckle to take the acclaim of the Tyrone crowd with David Irving waving it off.

Jim Donovan wasted no time in bagging the second win of his pro career - and a memorable first stoppage.

Donovan halted Bartłomiej Włodarczyk inside the first round of their middleweight matchup.

The 21-year-old Limerick southpaw stopped Włodarczyk with a wicked right hand after just one minute and 44 seconds of the first round.

It was Włodarczyk’s second visit to the floor having gone down under a lethal left earlier - and referee Paul McCullough had seen enough.

Waterford-based fly Tiana Schroeder moved to 5-0 with a points win over a game Judit Hachbold.

Schroeder put Hachbold down in the sixth and the Hungarian was essentially saved by the final bell of the bout, but Shroeder was given a 60-53 decision.

Schroeder had Hachold under stern pressure with the 32-year-old’s gum shield spending quite a spell on the canvas.

Irish boxing star Joe Ward joined coach Jimmy Payne in Schroeder’s corner. Schroeder popped Hachbold to the floor in the final stanza, but had to settle for a points win.

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The night got underway with three exhibition bouts featuring some exciting amateurs.

Ryley Doherty of Raphoe Boxing Club and Cormac Dillon from Eglinton fought over three two-minute rounds with Kilcullen’s Aodhan Byrne and Jamie Horner going for a similar distance while Twin Towns BC’s Caoimhin Connolly and Conan McSorely from Newtownstewart danced for four two-minute verses. The amateur fights were refereed by Carrigart Boxing Club’s James McCarron.