‘Some buzz’ as Cathal McLaughlin gets pro experience

Cathal McLaughlin got a sniff of professional boxing on Saturday night - and the Raphoe Boxing Club middleweight wants more.

In one of two amateur exhibitions to get the Rumble In The Hills card underway at the Aura Leisure Complex in Letterkenny, McLaughlin fought Flow Academy’s Cody Lee Peoples.

Backed by a big crowd, 'Soft Paws' McLaughlin was a man enjoying his work over four two-minute rounds.

“I’d love to get used to this,” he told Donegal Live. “I really enjoyed it. I got a bit carried away at times.”

Joe Ward sets sights on world’s top 175lb fighters after Letterkenny win

After stopping Prince Oko Narty in Letterkenny on Saturday night, in his Irish homecoming, Moate southpaw Joe Ward is now eying up some of the light heavyweight division’s big guns,

Early in the bout - fought over four two-minute rounds - coach Gary McCullagh implored McLaughlin from the red corner ‘steady, steady, nice and steady’.

McLaughlin and Peoples were the beaten semi-finalists at the recent Irish Elite Championships while McLaughlin won a first Irish Senior title just a few weeks ago, shocking Ballyboughal’s Irish U22 champ TJ King in the decider at the National Stadium.

Just six days after they met at the Raphoe BC 35th anniversary show, the pair crossed swords again. McLaughlin took a unanimous decision last weekend and was on top here, although the bout was a no-decision contest officially marked as a draw.

“Some buzz,” he beamed afterwards. “That was unreal. It’s completely different.”

McLaughlin brought a sizeable crew from Strabane to roar him on and he’s certainly a man who could light up some pro shows in the not-too-distant future.

He said: “It’s a different sport really. You can’t just be scoring and moving, you have to please the crowd.

“The atmosphere is brilliant. My aim now is to train as hard as I can and see what I can do.”