Jamie Kavanagh (5-0, 2 KOs) defeated Ramon Flores (3-11-2, 3 KOs) by unanimous decision on Thursday night at Club Nokia in Los Angeles.

The 20-year-old won all rounds on the three judges’ scorecards in a shutout win as he continues to build up his record as a processional.

However, Kavanagh got a bit of a shock that spurred him into action at the outset of the fight.

“I came out a bit relaxed and he came out with a big right and caught me,” Kavanagh told the Irish Voice on Monday.

“He threw a haymaker, and I had committed to a punch and he connected. I took the shot well and started to box him and hit him with some very hard shots.”

That was the last moment of complacency from the Irishman, who out-boxed his opponent for the rest of the fight.

“The jab worked for me.  We had been working on establishing the jab and throwing it a lot more frequently in the gym, and I used it to upset his rhythm,” added Kavanagh.

The Crumlin, Co. Dublin native said that his trainer Freddie Roach was happy with his performance once he got over his bumpy start.

A clash of heads in the last round opened a tiny scrape on Kavanagh’s right cheek that bled a little, but that will not hinder plans for his next fight.

Kavanagh returned to the gym on Tuesday and is already preparing for his European debut as a professional on April 16 at Manchester's M.E.N. Arena on the undercard of Amir Khan’s WBA light welterweight title defense against Derry man Paul McCloskey.

In other news, heavyweight Kevin McBride (35-8-1, 29 KOs) was in Newark, New Jersey last Thursday for a press conference to promote his fight against Tomasz Adamek (43-1, 28 KOs) at the Prudential Center on April 9.

"I'm from Ireland, I'm Irish, and I'm proud to be a fighter. I'm coming here to fight. This is a big fight for me. An Irish painter, Sean Scully, said to me a couple years ago, ‘Follow your dream,’ and that's what I'm going to do, follow my dream," said the 37-year-old McBride.

"This is a great opportunity for me to show the world I'm a bigger man. You know, if I get into the later rounds with Tomasz Adamek, when I hit him on the chin he's going to think the whole of Poland hit him!” said the Monaghan native.

Adamek, who has a fight in September with one of the Klitschko brothers, addressed the reasons why he chose this fight while speaking to the assembled press.

"Somebody asked me why I am fighting before I have a guaranteed title fight, and I said, 'I want to be active, this is my job. I can't stay home 8-9 months. So we made a fight -- thank you Kevin for taking this fight,’” said Adamek.

"He's a big man, we respect him. I'm preparing with Roger (Bloodworth), it's our second week in the Poconos. We prepare very hard and I am very healthy,” he added.

“I want to be the champion. I am serious, this is my life, this is my way, this is my destiny."
Meanwhile, middleweight Matthew Macklin (28-2, 19 KOs) was also talking this week about his forthcoming bout with former light middleweight champion Winky Wright (51-5-1, 25 KOs) at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on April 9.

Macklin, whose manager Brian Peters confirmed on his website that this fight is the first in a deal signed with Golden Boy Promotions, is looking forward to his assignment against Wright, who once featured high in the list of top pound-for-pound fighters in boxing.

“I have the utmost respect for Winky. He is a legend of the sport and his achievements speak for themselves,” said Macklin last week.

“He's someone I've looked up to throughout my career, but this is my time to make a big impact in the U.S. and this is the perfect fight to do that in. I know that it will be a huge challenge, but that's what appeals to me about this fight and I'm very confident about the outcome.”

Finally, in one of the biggest shocks in Irish amateur boxing in some years, Olympic silver medalist Ken Egan was denied an 11th straight Irish senior title when he was beaten by Joe Ward in the final of the light heavyweight Elite Championship on Friday night.