Paul “Dudey” McCloskey returns to the ring in England tonight on what he hopes is the first step to a possible European title fight.
Paul “Dudey” McCloskey.
The Dungiven man is set to take on Dave Ryan on the undercard of Stuart Hall’s and South African Vusi Malinga clash e for the vacant IBF bantamweight title in the First Direct Arena in Leeds – a bill to be screened live on the Sky pay-per-view channel BoxNation.
The former European champion and world title challenger is returning to the ring after a 18 month absence.
The 34-year-old’s manager Francis McNicholl believes the southpaw has a lot to offer and tonight’s opponent in an eight-round encounter would provide the `’perfect test.”
Victory for McCloskey for tonight will give him the perfect boost as he aims to move back up the rankings with a shot at a European title a strong possibility.
McCloskey has had 26 professional fights, winning 24 (12 by knockout) and losing just the two.
Now fighting in the light welterweight division, he is a former Irish senior amateur champion, former British light-welterweight champion and European light-welterweight champion.
McCloskey played both Gaelic football and hurling at underage and briefly at senior level for the local clubs in Dungiven – St. Canice’s Dungiven and Kevin Lynchs respectively and was part of the Dungiven side that won the Derry Senior Football Championship and Ulster Senior Club Football Championship in 1997.
Boxing out of St Canice’s ABC, he fought for Ireland at amateur level and was a three-time Irish champion and five-time senior Ulster champion at in the light welterweight division.
He failed to qualify for the 2004 Summer Olympics by ending up in third place at the second AIBA European 2004 Olympic qualifying tournament in Warsaw, Poland.
McCloskey turned professional in March 2005 on the undercard of a bill that included Eamonn Magee and Neil Sinclair at the King’s Hall, Belfast.
In his debut fight, he defeated experienced Englishman “Dangerous” David Kehoe with a third round knockout.
In December 2007, he won the IBF International light-welterweight title, stopping Tontcho Tontchev in round four.
After beating Nigel Wright on points in July 2008, he fought Colin Lynes on 5 December 2008 for the vacant British light-welterweight title. McCloskey won, forcing Lynes to retire after the ninth round.
Following his British title victory, McCloskey was named Boxer of the Year at the Irish National Boxing Awards in January 2009.
On 13 March, he retained his British light-welterweight title in emphatic fashion with a fourth-round stoppage of Dean Harrison in Widnes.
McCloskey won the vacant European light welterweight title on 6 November 2009 when he defeated Spanish boxer Daniel Rasilla after original opponent and champion Mbaye withdrew due to injury.
McCloskey defended his European title against Giuseppe Lauri from Italy on 11 June at the King’s Hall, Belfast, with an 11th round knockout.
McCloskey’s next defence of his European title was against Barry Morrison in Letterkenny, County Donegal, on 2 October 2010. McCloskey won the fight – televised live on RTE Television – with a seventh round stoppage of his Scottish opponent.
His third defence of the title was due to be against Italian Michele Di Rocco on March 5, 2011 but the fight was cancelled due to a match with Amir Khan fight being worked out, an encounter he would go on to lose at the Manchester Evening News Arena on Saturday 16 April 2011 when the fight was stopped in the sixth round due to an accidental head clash in which McCloskey sustained a cut above his eye.
McCloskey returned with a hard-fought victory over Breidis Prescott in a world title eliminator on 10 September 2011 but his hopes of a second crack at a world title were dealt a huge blow when he lost to former WBO champion DeMarcus Corley in May last year when referee Ian John-Lewis called a halt to the contest during round 10 as a bloodied McCloskey wobbled after being caught by a solid right-hand punch.
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