Eamonn Loughran vs Angel Beltre 2

Four months after their first meeting had ended without a result because of a clash of heads, the unfinished business between the two welterweights was settled decisively on the judges’ cards rather than inside the distance. Eamonn Loughran retained his WBO championship by unanimous decision over Angel Beltre at the Ulster Hall in Belfast on October 7, 1995, completing twelve rounds in command but without providing the emphatic finish expected by a demanding home crowd.

Both men weighed 146 pounds. Loughran, the 25-year-old champion from Ballymena, was making the fifth defence of the title he had won from Lorenzo Smith in October 1993. Beltre had been cut badly enough to prevent him continuing in their May contest at the King’s Hall, the injury having been caused by an accidental collision. That unsatisfactory ending made a return necessary, and the Dominican challenger arrived confident that greater care at close quarters would allow him to take the champion into a longer and more favourable contest.

Loughran established his superiority almost at once. Working behind straight punches and beating Beltre to the attack, he controlled the opening round and then came close to making an early night of it in the second. Beltre was hurt and driven unsteadily towards the ropes, where a stoppage appeared possible. The challenger survived, however, and Loughran did not sustain the assault with sufficient urgency to finish him. It became the pattern of the fight: the champion landed the cleaner and more damaging punches, while Beltre endured the bad moments and remained upright.

Through the middle rounds Loughran boxed with accuracy and discipline. He dictated the distance, intercepted Beltre’s advances and repeatedly did enough to disturb the challenger without overwhelming him. Beltre lacked the speed and variety to alter the course of the contest, but his resistance prevented Loughran from converting clear superiority into a stoppage. Referee Ismael Fernandez had little cause for serious intervention, and there was no repetition of the accidental head clash that had ended their first meeting. By the seventh round, Beltre had been unable to win a session on any card, although one judge considered that round even.

The contest became repetitive during the later stages. Loughran continued to hurt Beltre in brief passages, only to return to measured boxing rather than press the matter. The Belfast spectators, aware that the challenger had been vulnerable since the second round, grew increasingly dissatisfied. Beltre finally secured some reward for his persistence in the tenth, the only round awarded to him by any of the officials. Even then the broader result was beyond dispute. Loughran reasserted control in the eleventh and twelfth, closing the bout without exposing himself to the unlikely reversal that Beltre required.

The official margins accurately reflected the champion’s command. Cesar Ramos scored every round for Loughran apart from an even tenth and returned 120–109. Cornelio Stucchi marked it 119–109, giving Beltre the tenth, while Henk Adriaansen scored 119–110 after calling the seventh even and awarding the tenth to the challenger. Loughran had therefore lost only one round between the three judges and retained his championship beyond argument.

The victory raised Loughran’s record to 26 wins, one defeat and one draw, with one no-contest, but it brought less approval than such figures ordinarily commanded. Trainer Freddie King acknowledged that his boxer had improved but wanted a greater effort in the closing rounds, a view plainly shared by the crowd. Loughran had been champion for nearly two years and had now made five successful defences, yet his quiet manner and methodical boxing had not won the affection granted to more theatrical champions. Against Beltre he did nearly everything required of him except conclude the business early. It was a comprehensive championship victory, sound in method and beyond controversy, though greeted in Belfast with the peculiar disappointment reserved for a local man who wins too easily and not quickly enough.

I always thought Eamonn Loughran deserved more respect than he received in Belfast. He had won the WBO title from Lorenzo Smith and defended it against Alessandro Duran and the awkward Manning Galloway, yet the public never truly warmed to him. He was quiet, methodical and lacked the theatre surrounding Chris Eubank or Naseem Hamed. That counted against him, unfairly.

The first Beltre fight ended as a no-contest after an accidental clash of heads, so this rematch was necessary. Loughran settled the argument completely. He hurt Beltre badly in the second and then outboxed him for virtually every remaining minute. His balance was good, his straight punches arrived first, and he controlled the distance without taking unnecessary chances.

My criticism is that he should have forced the stoppage. Beltre was durable but limited, and Loughran repeatedly had him in trouble without maintaining the pressure. That frustrated the crowd, and I understand why. When a man is ready to go, you do not give him time to recover and start again.

Still, winning nearly every round is not failure. Loughran was clearly the better boxer and the decision was beyond dispute. It was convincing rather than memorable, which sums up his championship reign.