Jack Rafferty successfully defended his Commonwealth junior welterweight title with a fifth-round stoppage over Cory O’Regan tonight in Manchester, England.

Rafferty, in his usual style, started slow but started to punish the smaller O’Regan as the rounds progressed. The challenger’s corner threw in the towel at 2.26 of Round 5.

O’Regan started the contest on the back foot, evading the much larger Rafferty’s punches and confidently firing counters. O’Regan, who normally competes at lightweight, moved briskly on his feet and was noticeably quicker than Rafferty who dutifully plodded forwards. The second round was similar, but Rafferty, 26-0 (17 KOs), bided his time and seemed confident that O’Regan, who had never strayed beyond eight rounds, would eventually fade. And so it proved.

O’Regan snapped a southpaw jab into Rafferty’s face at the beginning of the third, but the champion was getting closer and O’Regan’s feet were beginning to slow. Late in the session Rafferty landed a thunderous right to the chin of O’Regan, 14-1 (3 KOs), as the challenger backed away with his hands low. O’Regan crashed down but managed to climb to his feet to beat referee Darren Sarginson’s 10 count.

The underdog survived the round but found himself down again in the fourth from another right hand but Sarginson, believing a slip had caused his fall, didn't rule a knockdown. Even so, O’Regan was visibly hurt. The plucky challenger spat out his gum shield and did well to survive another assault and dominant round from the champion.

As the fifth began it was clear to see that O’Regan had ran out of both ideas and fuel. He was leaning on the ropes and electing to trade when Rafferty sensed it was time to take his man out with body shots.

O’Regan’s corner pleaded with their man to move but to no avail. As Rafferty switched his attacks back to the head the O'Regan corner launched the towel across the ring. Sarginson gladly accepted.

Rafferty also holds the British title at 140 but the British Boxing Board of Control refused to sanction the contest for the famous Lonsdale Belt.

Earlier, one of the UK’s heavyweight hopefuls Delicious Orie, 1-0, picked up the first win of his professional career. The 2024 Olympian had clearly made changes to his fast paced amateur style but couldn't get the job done inside schedule when faced with the fleshy Milos Veletic, 3-8 (1 KO). Orie had four rounds to secure a knockout win yet was unable to hurt his opponent until the dying seconds when, alas, it was too late. The referee Steve Gray awarded Orie the decision by a score of 40-36.

Junior lightweight Royston Barney-Smith, now 14-0 (7 KOs) completed an eight round run out against the tough Cesar Ignacio Paredes, 18-17-1 (5 KOs). Barney-Smith cut Paredes but was unable to get the tough Peruvian out of there. Darren Sarginson scored the contest 80-72 in favor of Barney-Smith.

Mark Chamberlain, now 17-1 (12 KOs), picked up his first win since his defeat to Josh Padley out in Saudi Arabia. The junior welterweight secured a unanimous decision victory over Miguel Angel Scaringi, now 8-5 (3 KOs), by a score of 80-72.

Amateur standout Ramtin Musah made a winning start to his professional career with a shutout victory over the durable Robbie Chapman, now 13-49-9 (2 KOs). Musah, a super middleweight from Congleton, Cheshire, and trained by Tony Sims, used his silky skills to outscore his opponent 40-36 on the referee Steve Gray’s card.