JAMES McGivern claimed his second win as a professional with a thoroughly impressive points victory over Jordan Ellison on the ‘Golden Contract’ card on Wednesday night.
The South Belfast fighter took the verdict 60-53, but looked set for a stunning second round stoppage when he caught Ellison with a thunderous body shot.
The referee had his arms crossed ready to stop the fight on the cusp of the 10 count, but the Englishman rose from the canvas in the nick of time and was allowed to continue.
McGivern, though, remained in control of the contest and was rarely troubled by his opponent over the course of the six rounds.
Ellison, who is no stranger to taking on Irish boxers having fought the likes of Jono Carroll, John Joe Nevin and Marco McCullough in the past, made his way to the ring with the rather unusual choice of Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want For Christmas’ as his ring-walk tune.
McGivern opted for the much more credible selection of James Brown’s ‘Get Up Offa That Thing’ and the Belfast lightweight was a cool as the ‘Godfather of Soul’ in the early exchanges as he fought with guile and accuracy against a his more experienced opponent.
Indeed, McGivern looked every-inch the seasoned pro in the first round before he dropped Ellison with a stinging body shot in the second.
Ellison struggled to get to his feet within the 10 seconds, but the referee allowed him to continue as McGivern came within a tenth of second of gaining the stoppage.
To his credit, Ellison responded well to the knockdown, but McGivern was picking his shots off with incredible ease and took the third round in a similar vein to the first two.
The former St George’s ABC southpaw slowed the tempo in the fourth round allowing Ellison to regroup.
Yet, the Englishman was content to not to go toe-to-toe with McGivern in the closing rounds and his defensive stance suggested he was wary of being caught by another crippling body shot from McGivern.
In just his second outing as a professional, McGivern already looks set for bigger and better things and he is likely to return to action early in the new year.
Another former amateur star, Fearghus Quinn, was also successful on the card as the South Armagh native claimed a 60-54 points win over Scott James in their middleweight contest over six rounds.
