THE Irish super-bantamweight title is now in the possession of Ruadhan Farrell who repeated his March victory over Connor Kerr to take a unanimous decision at the SSE Arena on Friday night.
This was a rematch of their Celtic title fight earlier this year in which Farrell edged home after a war and although this wasn't quite as high octane, it was nonetheless competitive and a lot more competitive than some of the scorecards suggested (98-92, 97-93, 100-91).
Still, it would be impossible to deny that Farrell won this fight as he made use of his advantages that bit better and grabbed a win at the arena for the third time of asking having lost and drawn in the past at the same venue.
"It feels unbelievable - I'm an emotional wreck, to be honest," said Farrell afterwards.
"I'd always wanted to be an Irish champion as an amateur and never got that opportunity, but here I am now.
"A win, a draw and a loss (at the SSE Arena) but each of those fights I've learned from and they've made me stronger. I wasn't supposed to win those other nights, but here I am and my whole family is here - I'm a champion. I was dedicating that to my cousin - what a night."
They teased at a boxing match for the first minute this time around, but it wasn't long until instinct kicked in as they began to trade.
Kerr was at a height and reach disadvantage, so the onus was on him to find a way inside and the only way to do so was to throw in twos and threes, having his moments in the opener, but Farell had much more success in that stanza.
When Farrell kept it long, he was getting the better of it but then helped Kerr out when marching forward as the Monkstown man was right in range to let go with rapid fire and made good use of the uppercut.
It was the battle all had anticipated as the momentum swung this way and that, the rounds close and competitive with Farrell smart with his work and Kerr then responding in kind.
Farrell with his team 
The pace was relentless as they had to give and take in equal measure, Kerr enjoying a good end to the fourth, but the rounds were incredibly tight and moving into the second half of the 10 scheduled rounds, it was there for both to take a firm grip.
It seemed Farrell was that man as he enjoyed good rounds in six and seven, but it certainly wasn't one-way traffic.
Still, Kerr was having trouble building sustained pressure at this point and knew he needed to turn it around, roaring back in the eighth as he began to put the pressure on once more.
The sense was he needed more of the same in the final two rounds and jumped on Farrell right at the start of the ninth to set the tone, dominating the majority of the round and seemed to do enough despite Farrell rallying late on.
That little rally seemed to carry into the final round as he dominated the pace early and then responded in kind to a Kerr attack, perhaps this dominance in the last underlining his performance as he was a worthy winner in the end, even if the cards were a little unkind to Kerr.
"I boxed out of my skin and although I was a bit off at times, I have the belt and one of the judges' scorecards gave me every round, so I must have done something good," Farrell added.
"Out of this year, I've spent eight months in the gym and I'm rewarded, so I can enjoy Christmas with my family. My screensaver all week has been the Irish title so I knew in my head I won and I'm here now - what a night.
"I'm still learning my craft and would like to now start earning a few paycheques so I can treat my family to a holiday or save for a house deposit, but I will think about that next year and see what 2025 brings."
