Casey beats Samba star into submission
The Brazilian came with something of a reputation — seven wins and just one loss from his seven-bout pro career — and it appeared as if Casey might have been thrown in at the deep end for his pro debut.
When he was caught with a big right hand that spun him around and left him grasping at the air at the start of the second round, it certainly looked as if DolPhil Promotions, who staged last night’s professional bill in Killarney and looks after the interests of Casey among a host of new professional hopefuls, might have bitten off more than they could chew.
Casey had been looking to land the big punch throughout the first round, stalking his man but all the time short of the target as the elusive Brazilian slipped his punches and countered with some serious hooks to the head and body.
The big punch at the start of the second round may have rattled Casey but it worked to his advantage as the 26 year old Limerick man, a former amateur intermediate champion, battered his man back into the corner. De Jesus turned him and fought for control of the centre of the ring but Casey forced him back on to the ropes and continued to pound him with both fists.
The Brazilian was reeling from another sustained onslaught and a couple of solid right hooks to the head when referee Emile Teidt, son of the legendary Olympian, Fred Teidt, stepped in to stop the contest after just two minutes and one second of the second round.
John Waldron, a light heavyweight from Roscommon and the newest member of the DolPhil stable, was handed a mission impossible for his professional debut in former Irish champion, Ciaran Healy.
Healy, it will be remembered, lost to Andy Lee that amazing night Bernard Dunne was stopped by Kiko Martinez and also has a loss to Jamie Moore on his card.
Three weeks ago, the Belfast man weighed 11 st 10 lbs when he was stopped by Matthew Hall in the third round of a fight that was shown on Sky Sports but he weighed in at 12st 7¼ lbs for last night’s fight.
While the excess poundage may have slowed him down and he conceded height and reach to Waldron, his ring craft was far superior and he withstood a last round onslaught to get a 49-37 verdict from referee David Irving.
Robbie Long from Dublin gave Paddy Hyland plenty to enthuse over when he pounded Sandris Thompson into submission in three rounds.
Long, a new addition to the stable headlined by the three Hyland brothers, hit the luckless Latvian with the proverbial kitchen sink and left him nursing a damaged left shoulder from early in the second.
Indeed Thomson, who had two wins and 14 losses on his card going into this fight, would have been justified had he remained seated at the end of the second.
But he came out for the third and shipped some big right hands to the head and damaged shoulder that lift his left arm limp by his side. At the end of the third round Terry Christle, who topped the bill for the last professional show held in Killarney back in the 1980s, called referee David Irving and, on his advice, the referee stopped the contest before the start of the fourth.
