RAY MOYLETTE HAS suffered a first career defeat as a professional after being edged out on a split decision in a captivating 10-round war with Christian Uruzquieta.
One judge scored the contest 95-94 for Moylette, while the other two had it 95-94 and 96-92 in Uruzquieta’s favour.
The Mexican will take home the WBC rankings belt from Castlebar, but the 2,000 or so fans who headed home voiceless from the Royal Theatre got their money’s worth from an encounter which saw Moylette felled twice in the fifth round only to peel himself off the canvas and slug his way to within a hair of victory.
A devastated Moylette received a hero’s acclaim as he apologised to supporters for falling short on his career-biggest night to date. The apology was frankly unnecessary.
On professional boxing’s return to terrestrial TV by way of TG4, former European amateur champion Moylette was coaxed to the ring by his sister Sheila’s rendition of Dolores O’Riordan’s God Be With You Ireland before marching behind a full bagpipe band. He was joined, as well, by lightweight world champion Anthony Crolla with whom he had sparred in Manchester in preparation for Saturday night’s encounter.
When the more combative action began, Moylette clipped Uruzquieta with a stinging left hook straight off the bat before the Mexican fired back with three swift shots to the body — two with his right and the last with his left.
The body was clearly Uruzquieta’s target in an even first round, but he took a bullet right hand below the ribs himself as the Mayo man looked to further assert himself.
‘Sugar Ray’ clipped his foe with a beautifully timed counter right uppercut to begin the second, following it up with a thudding shot of the same description through Uruzquieta’s guard.
Unperturbed by the noise which greeted Moylette’s success, Uruzquieta fired back to limited success with a couple of threes, but Moylette again put his foot down and finished the round with a whippet overhand right and a rousing combination at the bell.
Three sturdy left hooks from Moylette caught the Mexican’s attention seconds into the third round, the final shot of the sequence complemented by clever movement which left Uruzquieta looking foolish as he swung wildly over the top.
Moylette established an extra step’s worth of distance between the fighters in order to steer clear of the body shots which had reddened his sides, but Uruzquieta was still able to close the range on occasion as he forced the pace in a high-octane back-and-forth.
The Mexican’s forward pressure made for a more uncomfortable fourth, his body attack relentless and forcing Moylette onto his bike. After four, there would have been a strong case to be made for the fight being even on the cards.
In the fifth, it all went south — literally — for the hometown fighter: Moylette was relieved of his wits by a nuclear left hook against the ropes, collapsing to the canvas while seeing stars.
He beat the count by only milliseconds — surely willed to his feet by the extraordinary noise which followed a knockdown that would have ended most fights.
Upon the resumption, Moylette was rag-dolled around the ring for what seemed like an eternity, eventually going down again to a comparably soft left hand which merely knocked him off whatever was left of his balance.
Once more he rose, soldiering his way to the ding and the fight’s halfway mark. The fact that he survived the round at all was extraordinary.
More remarkable still was the fact that Moylette rose from his stool early to start the sixth, standing still and staring at the still-seated Uruzquieta for 10 or 12 seconds as the 2,000-strong crowd bellowed their man on.
He shipped a hard three-punch combination to begin that stanza before stiffening Uruzquieta with a right hand which nearly took the roof off the Royal Theatre.
That fever pitch continued as Moylette began to once more move smoothly, rediscovering his rhythm and clocking the away fighter with some fine shots before the bell.
The seventh, incredibly, was Moylette’s strongest round to date: he boxed supremely, aggressively, the noise deafening as he found the mark with nearly every assault. There are second winds, and then there are outer-body experiences. To the naked eye, this was beginning to fall into the latter category.
A quieter eighth round, though, was likely shaded by Uruzquieta: the visitor finished it well with a couple of nice shots on the ropes as Moylette tired fractionally.
Uruzquieta bit down and marauded forward in the penultimate round — Moylette’s career-first taste of a ninth. The Islandeady native’s rib cage took a shellacking, and he was visibly hurt by a mid-round sequence in which Uruzquieta landed the holy trinity to either side of the body and the solar plexus, sucking the wind from his agonised opponent.
It probably wasn’t enough to achieve parity, but for whatever it was worth, Moylette caught him clean with a sumptuous two-punch combo moments before the fighters once more retreated to their corners.
The dawn of the final round brought Castlebar — and surely at least a few TG4 viewers at home — to their feet. It could conceivably have been the decider for all we knew at that point.
Moylette started the better, boxing carefully but cleverly, before Uruzquieta resumed his hunt.
The Mayo man fended most of it off before detonating a right hand through the Mexican’s guard. Uruzquieta, though, again walked Moylette backwards with more body work as the clock began to tick towards the finish. Moylette, who attacked only fleetingly, perhaps landed the cleaner blows over the three minutes in what was a pick-’em round.
“I just want to thank everyone for the massive support,” said Moylette to the crowd which cheered him as though he had won. “That was unbelievable.
I was out on my feet in the fifth round and I didn’t want to get up, but hearing your voice threw me off the floor. I couldn’t stay down with everyone that was here, so than you so much for that.
“I apologise to everyone. This is a signature of Mayo, now, at this stage — I just missed out on the final hurdle. I apologise to everyone — I didn’t win the belt, but…
“I had a tough couple of months there. I had a tough couple of months. But coming back and walking into this arena, with everyone here for me… To come up from where I came from, I’d already won before we started this fight.”
A full 33 minutes after the scores were read out, a tearful @RayMoylette has finally left the main theatre to go up to his dressing room
— Joe O'Neill (@J0E_90) December 8, 2018
Stayed and thanked as many people as he could
What a fight, what a man
A first defeat for Moylette sets him back but not majorly: perhaps given murmurs that he struggled to make weight, and the toll Uruzquieta’s body attack took on him throughout proceedings, a move to 140 pounds might pay dividends.
In defeat, he at least produced one of the most memorable fights to occur on these shores in recent memory. And he did so on TV, which will surely stand to him as he looks to rebound next year.
Murray Kinsella, Gavan Casey and Andy Dunne preview a big weekend of Heineken Cup action and dissect the week’s main talking points.
Heineken Rugby Weekly on The42 / SoundCloud
Subscribe to our new podcast, Heineken Rugby Weekly on The42, here:
