Irishman Paddy Barnes marks his pro debut with a win in front of his hometown fans in Belfast.
Paddy Barnes came into the pro ranks for the first time tonight, after an impressive amateur career that saw him win the bronze medal in two Olympic games for Ireland – as well as winning gold in two Commonwealth games.
Before turning pro he blasted the amateur code as corrupt recently but any negative memories of the amateur game were long forgotten tonight as he moved onto bigger things.
He came into tonight’s pro debut with perhaps not as much preparation as he would have liked, after a hectic few weeks with a new born baby. But you wouldn’t have known with his performance as he looked sharp.
His amateur credentials translated into the pro game well against his first ever opponent as a prizefighter in Bulgarian Stefan Slavchev.
A solid opening round saw Barnes take the first three minutes relatively comfortably.
The quicker paced Barnes upped his work rate in round two behind a solid jab and some fast combinations at times, despite having to eat one or two right hands himself on his way in.
Barnes continued to box with authority to win the third round.
The end came in the fourth for Slavchev when he decided to lift Barnes up in some sort of wrestling move and got disqualified as a consequence.
Bizarrely, Slavchev left the ring straight away before Barnes got his hand raised.
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