BELFAST, Northern Ireland – Craig Richards returned to winning ways with a one-punch body-shot knockout of Belfast’s Padraig McCrory.

The fight’s lone firework came in the eighth and decisive round when Richards lined McCrory up with a left to the body and thudded it home with malice. The London light heavyweight soon started celebrating, having recognized it’s debilitating effect in the Irishman.

It was over after 1 minute and 58 seconds of the round.

The lack of action in the opener caused the crowd to boo, but the stakes were high given promoter Eddie Hearn had said the loser of the fight was “done” beforehand. Neither wanted to make a false move. McCrory turned lefty in his bid to explore different openings in the second, but Richards was sharp and focused. 

Little was happening, but the threat of violence hung like a cloud, with both waiting to take advantage of the slightest misstep.

Neither were able to get untracked. McCrory landed a left from the southpaw stance in the fourth while Richards, moments later, caught him with a right, but after a head clash, Richards was marked up on his forehead.

Perhaps McCrory was wary of Richards’ speed with counters, because he seemed hesitant to throw, but Richards’ lack of timing and distance meant he was not running away with victory by the end of the fifth, during which they both landed clean rights but little else of note.

Richards, by the seventh, however, had found a grove and McCrory was often moving backwards and with 20 seconds left and Richards becoming more aggressive, it was notable how quiet the pro-McCrory crowd had become as he slotted home consecutive rights before the bell.

With McCrory’s output all but dried up in the eighth, he retreated into his corner and Richards met him with a left hook to the body that collapsed the Irishman onto his knee. Referee Howard Foster picked up the count but McCrory could not make it back to his feet.

McCrory is now 19-2 (9 KOs), his only other defeat coming to Edgar Berlanga, while Richards improved to 19-4-1 (12 KOs).

Irish featherweight prospect Kurt Walker was given 10 wounds of solid work by Leicester’s game veteran Lyon Woodstock.

Walker, who BoxingScene had a worthy winner, was given only a draw by referee Howard Foster, but he won via majority decision thanks to the cards of Hugh Russell Jnr and Marcus McDonnell, who scored it 97-93 and 96-94, respectively.

Walker, 12-0 (2 KOs), earned the first with some sharp punches, including occasional right hands that Woodstock could not avoid, and while the Leicester man came out with more purpose in the second, he could not snap the 2020 Olympian’s rhythm. In fact, near the end of the second Walker started to open up.

Walker was exceptional in the third, dominating Woodstock on the front foot and frustrating him on the back foot. He was unmanageable, and was ready to go again 10 seconds before the start of the fourth.

The instructions from his corner had to be all of, “Keep doing what you’re doing.”

Whether Walker has the power to reach the top remains to be seen. He lashed Woodstock with a fourth round left hook, but the Englishman stood firm, although Walker looked bigger and stronger.

Little that Woodstock tried worked. He tried to pressure Walker into the corner but couldn’t cut off the exit routes. He tried to sucker Walker to the ropes so he could counter, but the Irishman beat him to the punch.

In the sixth, however, Woodstock opted to get more physical. Having been warned by referee Ron Kearney about punching after the bell to end the previous frame, he planted his feet and invited Walker into a fight. The Irishman accepted, perhaps needlessly so, and owing to the give-and-take nature of the exchanges that followed, Woodstock had his best round.

The pro-Walker crowd at Belfast’s SSE Arena hummed in anticipation for the Lewis Crocker-Paddy Donovan main event, and Woodstock put forward another incredible effort in the eighth.

“Good boy, big round,” yelled his corner.

Woodstock threw plenty of leather for the rest of the fight. He came out for the 10th with the intent of giving everything and tried to set a fast pace, but Walker, now dropping his hands and circling, opted not to entertain him as he had done previously.

For periods of the contest, Walker had been drawn into the type of fight he didn’t need on the night but one that might serve his overall development well.

They embraced at the bell and both held their hands aloft, but Walker had done enough, even if referee Foster had not thought so.

The gritty Woodstock, defeated only by good fighters in the form of Archie Sharp, Anthony Cacace and Zelfa Barrett, is now 16-4 (7 KOs).

Tris Dixon covered his first amateur boxing fight in 1996. The former editor of Boxing News, he has written for a number of international publications and newspapers, including GQ and Men’s Health, and is a board member for the Ringside Charitable Trust and the Ring of Brotherhood. He has been a broadcaster for TNT Sports and hosts the popular “Boxing Life Stories” podcast. Dixon is a British Boxing Hall of Famer, an International Boxing Hall of Fame elector, is on The Ring ratings panel and is the author of five boxing books, including “Damage: The Untold Story of Brain Trauma in Boxing” (shortlisted for the William Hill Sportsbook of the Year), “Warrior: A Champion’s Search for His Identity” (shortlisted for the Sunday Times International Sportsbook of the Year) and “The Road to Nowhere: A Journey Through Boxing’s Wastelands.” You can reach him @trisdixon on X and Instagram.