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John Joe Nevin stylishly picks up 10th win as he finally gains momentum in pro career

Meanwhile, in California, Monaghan teenage star Aaron McKenna’s fight was called off last-minute.

AS ONE OF his London 2012 victims in Oscar Valdez gears up to retain his WBO World featherweight title against Scott Quigg on Saturday night, Irish Olympic silver medalist John Joe Nevin stepped up his own game in inflicting a first defeat upon Alex Rynn in Bensalem, Pennsylvania on Friday.

In an eight-round lightweight contest, the stylish Nevin, still just 28, took a unanimous decision on scores of 79-73, 80-72, and 80-72.

The Mullingar shuffler and his Mexican foe had exchanged plenty of verbals in the lead-up to their co-feature bout at Parx Casino, but it was Nevin who threw the first shots in anger once the first bell sounded, ripping Rynn to the body.

He coasted through the first three rounds before Rynn came alive in the fourth, albeit while shipping the heavier work as Nevin continued to load up on his efforts. Both fighters touched gloves at the halfway mark.

They did so again after a fifth round in which the 31-year-old Mexico City native was the more aggressive, but the silkier work came from Nevin who proceeded to sting Rynn from range.

Rynn, whose record entering the contest was 6-0 – three of his wins quick – caught Nevin on the hop as the bell beckoned at the end of the sixth, drawing a smile from the Irishman who brushed off what was a thudding shot.

It was enough to make Nevin think twice, though, and the Westmeath man got on his bike for the remaining two rounds, safe in the knowledge that he had built an unassailable lead over the first six.

Hand raised by Rynn himself after eight solid rounds, Nevin’s own record improves to 10-0(4KOs), but more importantly a career-best win to date – and his second bout in just over three months – offers him further momentum in a pro stint thus far blighted by both injury and out-of-ring issues.

Both now seem distant, and Nevin – who fought just once between November 2015 and November 2017 – will surely climb a few more rungs on the lightweight ladder before this year’s out.

Over in Orange County, California, meanwhile, Monaghan teenage sensation Aaron ‘The Silencer’ McKenna had his fight cancelled at the eleventh hour due to what his management team at Sheer Sports described as “falsification of documents on the part of [opponent] Adolfo Caro.”

The Golden Boy-promoted welterweight’s team are currently arranging a new fight date for the 18-year-old, who remains 1-0 for the time being.

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