Irish light welterweight Jamie Kavanagh (1-0,1 ko) made an impressive start to his professional career at the WaMu Theater in MSG when he defeated William Ware by TKO in round two.

Kavanagh fought aggressively against his Augusta, Georgia opponent and looked a little nervous at the outset, with Ware connecting with a few shots and giving Kavanagh a rough introduction into professional boxing.

However, once Kavanagh settled down, his superior hand speed and excellent bodywork slowed his rival down considerably.

It did not totally deter him though, as Ware shook Kavanagh with a good shot midway through the round.

Kavanagh soon regained the upper hand and an excellent combination to the body followed by a sharp left hook to the head put Ware on the canvas.

In his eagerness to make an impression, Kavanagh threw a hook or two at Ware while he was down, but referee Sparkle Lee didn’t punish him.

The two traded gamely for the remainder of the round and Kavanagh took the stanza 10-8 on the all three judges’ cards.

The second round saw Kavanagh completely wear down his opponent with some withering body combinations, and another left hook soon had Ware gasping on the canvas.

Ware rose wearily when the count got to nine, but his fight was done. 

Another twenty seconds of punishment from Kavanagh was enough to convince referee Lee to call a halt to proceedings after 1:39.

"It was a great performance, he did exactly what I asked of him and for his first professional fight I am very happy,” said trainer Freddie Roach after the fight.

A delighted Kavanagh, roared on by plenty of Irish voices in the Garden crowd, was happy with his first fight.

"I was a bit nervous coming in my first professional fight at Madison Square Garden. First round I got in was a warm up and the second round you saw what happened," said the Dubliner.

The 19-year-old went on to say that he was not hurt by Ware's only real significant punch in the first round of the fight.

"I was a bit off balance you know, he did me but he didn’t hit me where I was wobbled."

Kavanagh plans to take a few days off but will then head straight back to gym in preparation for a possible fight at the Nokia Theatre in LA later in the summer.