Padraig ‘The Hammer’ McCrory outpointed Leonard Carrillo over 10 rounds at the SSE Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland on Friday night.

The local didn’t have it all his own way in their ProBox TV main event, though.

The 36-year-old Irishman, who was having his first fight back since his sixth-round knockout loss to Edgar Berlanga Jr in Orlando in February, was looking for a statement win, but instead he got a stubborn and durable opponent who hung tough with him all night.

Referee Hugh Russell Jr. scored the bout 98-91 as the sole judge. Most observers saw a much closer fight.

The tone of the fight was set in the opening round. McCrory (19-1, 9 knockouts) timed a left hand by Carrillo (17-6, 16 KOs) and connected with a counter left hook. Carrillo hit the deck and for a moment it looked like McCrory might be headed to the showers early.

But Carrillo was having none of it. With 20 seconds left to go in the round, the 35-year old Colombian landed a big left hand that wobbled McCrory. He continued to batter him until the bell.

The local favorite returned to his corner on wobbly legs and spent much of the second frame recovering.

McCrory, 171½ lbs, worked his way back into the fight in the third and fourth rounds, landing the crisper blows while remaining wary of Carrillo’s wide, bombing shots. The visitor received a stern warning from referee Hugh Russell Jr for a series of three rabbit punches during a clinch.

In the mid-rounds Carillo spent much of his time showboating, trying to goad McCrory into exchanges, a tactic that rarely worked. When Carrillo did let his hands go, he had some success and McCrory clearly wasn’t comfortable being on the wrong end of his power punches.

The back half of the fight evolved into a familiar pattern. McCrory would use his superior boxing skills to land accurate shots from the outside, before Carrillo, 170½ lbs, would land a stiff left hand late in the frame but run out of time to capitalize on it.

Carrillo found himself on the canvas in the seventh, but it was ruled a slip. It was one of his better rounds in the fight and in the eighth, he cut McCrory over the left eye with a punch. McCrory started well in the ninth, landing the sharper shots, but found himself languishing on the ropes late in the round with Carrillo hammering away at him with rights and lefts until the bell.

Buoyed by this success, Carrillo went on with it in the 10th, walking McCrory down and trying to trap him on the ropes again. McCrory, clearly fatigued, did his best to stay out of danger and finished the fight on his feet.

It looked like a close fight, but the referee and sole judge disagreed, awarding eight of the ten rounds to McCrory.

In the co-main event, Robbie Davis Jr (24-5, 15 KOs) survived a final-round scare to edge Javier Fortuna (38-5-1, 27 KOs) by a single point.

The 10-round bout was a scrappy affair featuring plenty of grappling and mauling in close, but it was England’s Davies Jr, 36, who got the better of the exchanges, landing the cleaner shots with more frequency.

Dominican southpaw Fortuna, 35, who was having his first fight in more than a year, struggled with his timing but did have pockets of success in the bout. In the final round, Fortuna hurt Davies Jr with a left uppercut before bludgeoning him to the canvas. It was enough to make the fight close, but not close enough to win.

Referee and sole judge Sean McAvoy awarded Davies Jr the victory with a score of 95-94.

Australian-based boxing journalist Anthony Cocks has been covering the sport for over 20 years for various print and online publications.

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