Cork pro boxers Tommy Hyde and Cathal Crowley record two big wins over fancied opponents

It was a great weekend for both Cork professional boxers Tommy Hyde and Cathal Crowley with both remaining unbeaten after their latest bouts. Tommy stopped Tanzania southpaw Anuary Mlawa with a brutal stoppage in his Super Middleweight bout after only two minutes of the first round last Friday night in Melbourne Australia to go 11-0 with eight stoppage victories and is now ranked 64th in the world.

Cathal Crowley beat English fighter Grant Dennis in another Super Middleweight contest to go 7-0, courtesy of a 59-55 points win at the Night of Champions at the National Arena in Dublin last Saturday night. 

Crowley took on this opponent with only two week's notice as his original opponent withdrew and this was his biggest test by far in his career to date, and he came through it with flying colours.

Tommy ( The Governor) Hyde didn’t waste anytime to get his opponent Mlawa out of the ring as he bombarded him from the first bell with a flurry of punishing blows to the body and head. 

Hyde, who was last in action when he beat German Aro Schwartz in Boston last October was due to fight in Waterford last December but was controversially withdrawn three days before he was due to fight.

This gave Hyde extra motivation for this fight and the unfortunate Mlawa got the blunt of his frustration and was stopped by the referee in the second minute of the bout. 

Hyde is greatly improving from fight to fight and with the well-established trainer Lee Beard from Manchester in his corner, you can see his mobility and movement to close off the ring improving all the time.

“This was the longest I’ve spent out of the ring since I turned professional, as I had a very frustrating couple of weeks before Christmas with my fight being cancelled,” Tommy said after his fight.

“I’m just delighted to get back into the ring and continuing to do what I do best giving my all for all my ers both here and back home.

“I was very happy with my performance, as I landed some good shots and I felt very strong from the first bell and I was confident of getting the job done early and make a statement.

“I’m very proud of the I got in Melbourne, as I sold a huge amount of tickets and we had a great night together after the win.

“I’ll be back to the gym this week and stay ready for whatever is next,” Hyde added.

For Crowley, he had to take a more difficult route to victory, however, he put in a very solid performance against a very experienced fighter Denis. The Cork Super Middleweight boxed behind a solid jab and was very patient in the opening two rounds by picking his moments with good technique. 

Crowley landed some telling shots in the middle of the third and stayed composed by boxing excellently take in every word from his Celtic Gym Warriors trainer Pascal Collins in his corner. 

Cathal began to move through the gears in the fourth and fifth round and drew blood from the face of the former English title challenger Dennis to the delight of the large Cork contingent. 

Crowley piled on the pressure in the final and sixth round and knocked Dennis’s gum shield out of his mouth with a punishing right and the judges gave him a deserved 59-55 victory to move unbeaten in his seven fights to date.

Meanwhile, Joe Joyce suffered a potentially career-damaging defeat as Filip Hrgovic claimed a unanimous points victory at Manchester’s Co-op Live Arena.

Hrgovic won a brutal 10-round heavyweight contest 97-93 96-95 98-92 on the judges’ scorecards as 39-year-old Joyce – who was originally scheduled to fight Dillian Whyte before the Londoner withdrew because of an injured hand – soaked up a lot of punishment.

The fight began in explosive fashion as Hrgovic landed several big shots over the top, but a clash of heads left the Croatian with a cut above the left eye.

Blood seeped down Hrgovic’s face and that gave Joyce confidence to trade, although his right eye was swelling up in the fourth round.

The slugfest continued throughout, with Joyce enjoying success in the eighth.

But Joyce was hurt by a big left hook at the end of the round and another attack in the ninth buckled the Briton’s knees.

Joyce, once tipped to be a future world champion, has now lost four of his last five fights after being stopped twice by Zhilei Zhang in 2023 and outpointed by Derek Chisora in July.

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