BOXING fans and pundits all over the country are still talking about Oisin Fagan's momentous clash with fellow Irish fighter Eddie Hyland at the National Basketball Arena in Tallaght recently, with some in the press labelling the tussle 'one of the greatest Irish fights in history' and 'redhot favourite for Fight of the Year'. The fight took place on the Golden Cobra Productions show and was an eagerly awaited showdown that had the fans at the arena standing up, waving their fists and screaming from start to finish and beyond.

It was the first time Hyland had fought 12 rounds. Fagan had never fought at Super-Featherweight. However, he looked in immaculate shape as he walked into the ring and it is a testament to Fagan's determination, grit and toughness that, at 35 years old, he can lose that kind of weight for a championship fight.

Fagan, in typical fashion, started the fight aggressively by jumping into Hyland's chest, but Hyland tried to keep him at bay with a crisp jab. The first round may have been edged by Hyland, but Fagan was always pressing the action.

In the fifth and sixth, Fagan began to box a little more and was picking his shots, catching Hyland regularly from afar, which is something we rarely see from Fagan.

However, he was back to his old style of 'bringing it on' by the seventh and eighth. Hyland's accuracy was probably the more eye-catching, but no matter how many accurate shots Hyland landed square on Fagan's face, the gritty Dubliner would just shrug his shoulders and throw a combination of his own in retort.

It was apparent from the sixth round that Fagan's left eye was bruised and starting to swell, and by the tenth he seemed to have a lot of trouble seeing out of it. Hyland's pitpat shots started to tell, but Fagan continued to plough on.

The eye totally closed at this stage, Fagan was caught with a nice uppercut, which seemed to momentarily stun the Portmarnock man. He grit his teeth and stood his ground but was clearly on the verge of being stopped, when he unleashed a beautiful left hook to the body that stopped Hyland in his tracks. He followed up with a right hook to the temple and continued with a barrage of shots of his own.

In the 11th, Fagan threw two beautiful right hands flush on Eddie's jaw. The latter of the punches buckled Hyland's knees and Fagan threw to the body, but Eddie stayed put and lasted out the round.

Then, in the 12th, there was no let-up on either fighter's part. Fagan may have scraped it, as he crouched low and threw a straight right hand to the body. Hyland seemed to double over and Fagan went in for the kill, pinning Hyland against the ropes.

He threw another two beautiful right hands to the belly, but somehow Hyland survived and threw a five-punch combination back into Fagan's face. The drama slowed down near the half-way point of the round, but coming to the end it was like a war once again, each trying to steal the round.

At the end of the fight, one of the judges, Emile Teidt, had the score 118-111 to Hyland. Most of the boxing media had it 115-113 for Hyland.

All in all, it was a fantastic fight and one that only raised the profile of both contestants even further. Fagan, who has made his name by scrapping his way through these types of battles in the past, said: 'I want to congratulate Eddie. He's a fine little boxer and is tough as nails. It was a pleasure fighting him.

'I would love to challenge him again, perhaps in a neutral venue, for either that IBF International title, or the Irish Super-Featherweight title.

'Ideally, it would be great if one of the big TV stations came on board to offer us a nice purse for our efforts. We are two very honest, hard-working pros and we'd love to be able to show the world once again what we're made of.'