Dennis McCann vs Ionut Baluta full scorecards
Photo Credit: Queensberry
Friday Fight Nights at York Hall rarely disappoint, and last night, on August 12, was no exception.
The skilful slickster Dennis "The Menace" McCann met with aggressive, volume-punching Ionut "Il Capo" Baluta in the main event of a Queensberry Promotions show and it was a small hall barnstormer.
The rounds were so close, it was almost impossible to score, but the ringside judges did their best to pick a winner. The result of the fierce, high octane, close contest was ruled as a majority draw. The trio of officials agreed on the same result for five of the nine rounds before the WBO Inter-Continental super bantamweight contest was ended early on a bad cut to the forehead of McCann, caused by an accidental head clash in the seventh.
All the official scorecards below:
Bob Williams:
R1: McCann 10-9 Baluta
R2: McCann 9-10 Baluta
R3: McCann 10-9 Baluta
R4: McCann 10-9 Baluta
R5: McCann 9-10 Baluta
R6: McCann 10-9 Baluta
R7: McCann 9-10 Baluta
R8: McCann 10-9 Baluta
R9: McCann 9-10 Baluta
Score: McCann 86-85 Baluta
Antonio Marogna:
R1: McCann 10-9 Baluta
R2: McCann 9-10 Baluta
R3: McCann 9-10 Baluta
R4: McCann 10-9 Baluta
R5: McCann 10-9 Baluta
R6: McCann 10-9 Baluta
R7: McCann 9-10 Baluta
R8: McCann 9-10 Baluta
R9: McCann 10-10 Baluta
Score: McCann 86-86 Baluta
Salbador Rodriguez:
R1: McCann 10-9 Baluta
R2: McCann 9-10 Baluta
R3: McCann 10-9 Baluta
R4: McCann 10-9 Baluta
R5: McCann 9-10 Baluta
R6: McCann 10-9 Baluta
R7: McCann 9-10 Baluta
R8: McCann 9-10 Baluta
R9: McCann 10-10 Baluta
Score: McCann 86-86 Baluta
The three judges agreed on the scoring of five of the nine rounds – rounds 1, 2, 4, 6, 7.
The Fans:
R1: McCann 10-9 Baluta
R2: McCann 9-10 Baluta
R3: McCann 9-10 Baluta
R4: McCann 9-10 Baluta
R5: McCann 10-9 Baluta
R6: McCann 10-9 Baluta
R7: McCann 9-10 Baluta
R8: McCann 9-10 Baluta
R9: McCann 9-10 Baluta
Score: McCann 84-87 Baluta
Fight fans only agreed with the scoring of four of the rounds – 1, 2, 6, 7.
Round by Round:
R1: They both begin pawing at each other with their jabs, gauging the range. Baluta misses with a couple of attempts so McCann looks like his usual sharp self from the off, landing a lovely straight left backhand right down the pipe. McCann throws a backhand and lingers there for too long allowing Baluta to counter while his head is dipped. Baluta lands a left hook, then swings wildly with another and hits thin air as McCann sidesteps away and falls to the floor in the corner, instantly ruled as a slip, but also a bit of a push too, very slight though, no foul play so doesn't get any type of a warning. McCann's jab controlled the first round, but Baluta looks lively and dangerous. McCann
R2: Great right hand from Baluta to begin the second stanza. Then he lands a left to the body followed upstairs to the head. Another big left hook up top from Baluta lands and he immediately follows up, but McCann wisely holds. Big round for Baluta. One apiece so far! Baluta
R3: In the first 30 seconds of the third, Baluta traps McCann on the ropes landing around a dozen shots, forcing McCann to hold. That was a one-sided attack we have never seen happen against McCann before, as Baluta is coming on strong. McCann evades the first one or two shots from Baluta but he's throwing in threes and fours and keeps getting caught by the volumes. He's soon hit cleanly and caught on the ropes again. McCann has to hold and forced to dig deep as early as this. Baluta slips over again in the third. When they come together after the break, McCann lands a stunning straight backhand, right on the button, you could hear the sound of it connecting. Richie Woodhall from ringside called it, "A belting shot." 'The Menace' gets back on his jab for the final minute of the round. Just how do you score that round? Early pressure from Baluta is balanced out by slick boxing skills from McCann to end the round. Draw 10-10
R4: The excitement stalls momentarily as the fourth is a bit more scrappy, a lot more holding, McCann possibly edging it go ahead on the scorecards early, although the challenger landed some more of his hooks on the bell. McCann
R5: Baluta starts the fifth as he finished the fourth – throwing hooks. He missed a lot, his accuracy has never been his biggest attribute, throwing in volume rather then ever being economical. He is getting countered by McCann occasionally, but then he lands another big left hook cleanly. Fifth round definitely goes to Baluta, even landing a couple of jabs which you don't see many of from him. There could be two rounds each, with one swing round hanging the fight in the balance. From ringside, Carl Frampton had it to McCann at 49-47 at this midway stage. Baluta
R6: The sixth stanza sees the southpaw back to business making Baluta miss while landing his jabs. A chopping right hand from McCann is eyecatching. McCann
R7: Worrying signs here for Dennis McCann in the seventh as a big cut opens up on his forehead from a clash of heads right in the middle of the round. Baluta is going through the gears trying to get him out of there. He throws a volley of shots, all caught by McCann until one final right hand chops down on him. McCann's face is crimson red and he walks into a left hook as he was moving laterally to his right. It appeared to stiffen the prospects legs a bit, but the action continued as normal. With 45 seconds to go, Baluta lands about five or six thudding left and right hooks on McCann who fired back a couple of his own in defence. Baluta
R8: Baluta goes down in the eighth, which seemingly looked courtesy of a right uppercut from McCann but it's immediately ruled a slip. The York Hall is a cauldron tonight, so the canvas could be a bit slippery. McCann landed the shot and then a second later he slipped, so it wasn't instantly connected and both referee and Baluta immediately rejected the knockdown. When they came back after the break, McCann again landed a straight backhand on Baluta, flush, but he just blinks and continues on.
McCann opens up with about eight or nine shots and he looked to be a bit casual when missing widely with a big right hook then Baluta lands an hellacious left hook to the chin which snapped McCann's head round. The 22-year-old instantly acknowledged the shot, but what a chin he's got. Baluta swings with three hooks which McCann rolls under all with ease. Baluta spurred on by the blood dripping from the Brit's head, looking for the stoppage. McCann
R9: The contest is ended early with one round left to go. Referee Marcus McDonnell making the right call despite the disappointment every single spectator must be feeling right now. Baluta thinks he's won, but we go to the scorecards. Baluta putting his head through the ropes to plead with the judges. Draw 10-10
Tim Rickson Scorecard: McCann 87-86 Baluta
Post Fight Quotes:
McCann: "To be honest, I thought it was a bit of a flat performance, I was hit with a lot of jabs, I thought I was catching him an awful lot as well. It was a good fight, I thought I won it by a round. I thought I did catch him, I caught him and he went down, and I thought it should have been a knockdown. It weren't the best night in the office, but it is what it is."
Baluta: "It was a good night of boxing but I won. The cornermen stopped the fight, it should have been a win because the official, the referee didn't see it."
McCann: "Let's run it back."
Baluta: "I'll have a rematch and next time I'll win by knockout."
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