Fagan survives early scare to floor Latvian
Fagan on the defensive before getting to grips with Ivanovs at the O2 Arena last Saturday.
OISIN Fagan says he felt 'embarrassed' at having to take a firstround standing count during his fight on the Bernard Dunne bill at the O2 Arena last Saturday.
It was all's well that ends well for the Portmarnock 35-year-old as he floored Latvian Juris Ivanovs twice and stopped him in round two, but he acknowledged that the fight didn't go entirely to plan.
'It was short and sweet, but I was embarrassed at taking a standing count,' he told the Fingal Independent.
'I was off balance and he caught me with something as I was slipping and my hand touched the canvas for a split second.
'I was up before the ref said 'one' but he counted it as a knockdown.'
After quickly recovering his composure following that solid left hook from the rugged visitor, Fagan floored him with a fast left-right combination 10 seconds from the end of the round.
In the second Fagan put Ivanovs down again with a hard left hook, just before referee Mickey Vann stopped the contest after 63 seconds.
Fagan only learned his opponent two days before the fight and confessed he had been hoping for a stiffer challenge, but he won't mind if last Saturday's straightforward victory turns out to be a stepping stone to a major title in the near future.
'Ivanovs was the best of a bad bunch. His record is not very good, although he has only lost to unbeaten fighters.
'I would have liked more of a test, another two or three rounds maybe, but after my 12 rounds with Hyland it was nice to get a few rounds in the bank.'
Fagan revealed that he will return to the ring at the National Stadium next month, and if all goes to plan there is the hope of a possible European title fight, at worst, during the winter.
'I was approached by Paddy Hyland the other night and he said he wanted either myself or Kevin O'Hara for a shot for the IBF title. But he wants me and O'Hara to fight each other first in an eliminator.
'It depends what else I am offered. The IBF international title is not the be all and end all, and maybe a European fight would give me a chance to get up the rankings.'
While Fagan was satisfied with his own performance, he confessed to being surprised by Dunne's approach as he coughed up his world title to Thailand's Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym.
'I felt very, very sorry for Bernard, but I was not sure about his tactics.
'Everybody knew by this fella's record that he was a big puncher and it should have been in his plans to stay away from him for the 12 rounds.'
- Marcus CAVAROLI
