GOODLUCK Mrema made the 7500-mile journey from Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania to Glasgow to fight for the right to be named IBF youth bantamweight champion of the world. It was simply his bad luck to be pitched in against a young man from Saughton who, in just his fourth pro fight, already appears to have the world at his feet.
Lee McGregor is known as Lightning, so it was appropriate that he should strike twice in the fourth round to leave his opponent on the canvas, hopelessly unable to continue. Already on his way down when caught by a final clubbing left hand, there then came a fraught few minutes as the Tanzanian had to be given oxygen on his seat before the final formalities could be concluded.
It says something for McGregor’s progress since eschewing a shot at glory for Scotland in the Gold Coast in favour of turning professional that even this fourth-round stoppage was his sternest examination to date. Mrema, with two defeats from his 24 fights thus far, was a game wee guy in huge shorts who caught the Scot for the first time as a pro in the second round. Yet when the third round came along, McGregor’s first ever, his conditioning and class were starting to tell.
Roared on by a travelling support from the other side of the M8 which includes his brother Connor McGregor – no, not that one – McGregor savoured the moment of his career to date and outlined the schedule he envisages in his bid to follow the trail which Josh Taylor is blazing. A British title shot by the end of the year, and why not a world title shot by 2020, perhaps at Tynecastle. Or even Easter Road.
“It was amazing,” said McGregor. “This is the highlight of my boxing career – so far. I felt big and strong. There was no way he was beating me and I got a lovely belt at the end. I’m massive at the weight and I’m convinced I can win a world title in this division.
“He was a gritty opponent but I knew I was on top of him and it was a matter of time. I was comfortable but it was good to feel a shot as well. I’ve genuinely wasn’t hit in my first three fights so it’s no bad thing to feel one with the small gloves on because you need to be switched on or it’s good night.
“I’ve always had a good crowd with me from back in my amateur days. I’m grateful to them. We’re going to fill out a football stadium soon. My dream would be Tynecastle but I’ll fight anywhere. Even Easter Road! It would be brilliant to have the whole of Scotland behind me. But first I’m going on holiday to Turkey to eat loads of food and have loads of fizzy drinks!”
With Tyson Fury back on the scene, and Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder about, the heavyweight division is filled with giant personalities right now. But few are bigger than Martin Bakole. The 26-year-old might have been born in the Democratic Republic of Congo but he now resides in the people’s republic of Airdrie. Claiming to be of royal decent back in his homeland, Bakole has made it his mission in life to become the next king of Scotland, and here he was, strolling out to defend his IBO continental title against David "DL" Jones in a kilt for the first time.
So straightforward did he make this outing that he could probably have remained in full tartan dress for the whole duration without breaking sweat. His opponent was almost, but not quite, gone in 60 seconds, clearly shaken and disorientated by a clubbing left hook from Bakole, the fight clock eventually stopping at one minute and two seconds
“I promised my coach I would knock him out in the first round and in the first minute so I guess I wasn’t quite quick enough but I am still very happy with that,” said the likeable Bakole afterwards.
Maintaining his perfect record from his 11 fights to fate, the likeable big heavyweight went into the night claiming that he would be a world champion within a year - as soon as he can find someone brave enough to take him on. “I came here from Africa to live here and fight here and I will be a world champion, I promise you. There is nobody who can stand in front of me for ten rounds, with my power. Nobody. In all fights from now on I am going to come out wearing a kilt. This is my thing now.”
Another blink-and-you-miss-it event on the undercard involved Tommy Philbin, the 28-year-old from Kirkliston. Having had three fights in a row postponed, the 28-year-old took out the frustration out on the hapless Dominik Landgraaf of the Czech Republic.
“The last six months have been so frustrating – my last three fights have fell through at the last minute for one reason or another. My last one at the end of May got called at 2pm – just as I was about to leave my house.”
Gary "Razor" Rae was a popular winner on points against Johnson Telles of Nicaragua while Chantelle Cameron, the IBO lightweight champion, opened the night’s boxing, putting in a typically efficient performance to get rid of Natalia Aguirre of Argentina in the sixth round.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here