‘SPIKE’ O’SULLIVAN made short work of Melvin Betancourt in Boston tonight to claim the vacant NABA middleweight title and ensure that his star continues to rise in North America.
The 30 year-old Corkman, sporting a kilt for the bout at the city’s Agganis Arena, landed some good lefts in the opening round though Betancourt worked hard.
O’Sullivan picked up where he left off in the second though and dropped the Dominican to the canvas after a strong right. After an eight count, Betancourt gingerly got back to his feet but O’Sullivan smelled blood and landed another decisive blow moments later with Betancourt counted out.
It’s a significant win. As well as claiming the belt, O’Sullivan continues his string of recent good performances and it’s now 5 straight victories. On the undercard of the IFB super-middleweight fight between James DeGale/Andre Dirrell, the bout was carried on Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland while NBC broadcasted nationally across the US.
Gaining so much exposure will do his hopes of getting more high-profile fights no harm at all.
Afterwards, O’Sullivan re-iterated what he told The42 earlier this week: that he wants to face reigning WBA and IBO champion Gennady Golovkin next.