Convincing win for Seanie Monaghan at Madison Square Garden

Light heavyweight Seanie Monaghan (11-0, 8 KOs) ended his year on a high note

Light heavyweight Seanie Monaghan (11-0, 8 KOs) ended his year on a high note at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night when he knocked out Santos Martinez (2-3, 2 KOs) in the second round of their fight.

The 30-year-old fought on the undercard of the light middleweight rematch between Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito, and the predominantly Puerto Rican crowd gave Monaghan his biggest shock of the evening before any leather was thrown.

"It was the first time I ever got booed before a fight, as Santos Martinez is from Puerto Rico and all the Puerto Rican fans were screaming for him. But I just got on with business," Monaghan told the Irish Voice on Monday.

Monaghan, from Long Island, was all business as he easily found his target with head shots throughout the round, so much so that it was almost target practice.  Late in the first round the punches began to take a toll on Martinez.

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"I caught him with a left hook and I thought he was going down.  He was out on his feet, but I made an amateur mistake and I backed off him,” Monaghan said.

Santos took a count and managed to survive the stanza, but the pummeling only continued in the second round. After finally heeding the pleas of trainer Joe Higgins, Sr. to stop headhunting and work the body, Monaghan connected with a terrific punch to his opponent’s mid-section with 2:56 gone in the round.

"I got him with a real nice one," he added. "I knew he wasn't getting up after that one."
Martinez didn't, and Monaghan notched up the 11th win of his professional career and won over the crowd in the process.

Monaghan has now fought and won seven times during 2011, but that constant training and preparation means it is now time for him to recharge the batteries.

"I need a mental and physical break," he sad. "What I would like to have is an eight-round fight in early February.”

The possibility of Monaghan, who holds an Irish passport, having a tilt at the Irish light heavyweight title, currently held by Ciaran Healy, is still on, but he will have to get at least one eight rounder on his resume to do so.

For now, Monaghan can enjoy Christmas after a busy year capped by a good win at the mecca of boxing.

“It was a great way to end the year and great to be there,” he said. “The arena was only about three-quarters full, but I was fighting in front of 15,000 people.”

In other news, lightweight Jamie Kavanagh (8-0, 3 KOs) will see action this weekend when he fights on the undercard of the light welterweight title fight between WBA champion Amir Khan and Lamont Peterson at the Convention Center in Washington, D.C.

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Nster.com