Brooklyn, NY- Light heavyweight contender Sullivan Barrera (22-2, 14 KOs) looked good in beating Seanie Monaghan (29-2, 17 KOs) by a 10 round unanimous decision on Saturday night at the Aviator Sports Complex in Brooklyn, New York.
Barrera said after that he thinks Seanie was strong, but he proved that he’s a tough light heavy. And Seanie proved he has zero to be ashamed about; he was right there with the Cuban, for most of the fight.
Monaghan (29-2, 17 KOs) came in off a win over Evert Bravo after he took his first L against Marcus Browne. He knew entering he needed a W, or a solid showing in a loss, to not lose heavy ground at 175. Barrera wanted a rebound win after losing to Dmitriy Bivol in March; the Cuban told us he craves getting back into title shot territory and wanted to prove his worth by beating the Long Islander, who he figured would be a tough fight.
The fight was highly competitive with both guys trading big shots for the full 10 rounds. Barrera had the better power of the two, and his punches were landing cleaner with more precision. Monaghan did a good job of getting out of the way of a lot of Barrera’s big power punches, but not enough for him to get the victory.
The judges scores were 98-92, 99-91, 99-91. Boxing News 24 scored it for the 36-year-old Barrera by the sore 98-92. Barrera Was just a little bit better than the 37-year-old Monaghan in every round.
Monaghan landed a lot of hard body shots early in the contest and left hooks to the head of Barrera. Monaghan fought a lot better than he had in his 2nd round knockout loss to Marcus Browne last year in July.
In the first, we saw Monaghan establish the jab. “Keep the stick out,” yelled trainer Joe Higgins. “Keep stickin!” Sully (22-2, 14 KOs) did well with his counter punching to keep Monaghan at bay.
In the second, Barrera came out more aggressive. He looked to push Monaghan back, but the Long Islander stood his ground, pumped the jab, slipped power rights and slammed a left to the body late in the round.
In round three, Monaghan landed a left hook, solid shot. Then, a right uppercut…Higgins liked his work. A sneaky right by Monaghan had the crowd and Higgins jazzed.
In the fourth, Monaghan beat Sully to the punch. Tight round; Sullivan had a better final third. To 5; Sully kept up the momentum. He bore in, his hand speed was better, his short right was angled nicely. A left uppercut for Sully had Monaghan fans feeling for him. In the sixth, we saw fighting at mid range. Barrera didn’t pull away, didn’t escalate his game to another level, Monaghan hung right there. Barrera maybe found Monaghan to be a more capable defender than he’d expected.
In the eighth, we saw both of Monaghan’s eyes a bit swollen. He moved around the ring smartly to avoid the big shots. In the ninth, we saw Monaghan being busier in the first third. He stayed on his toes more. Then Barrera landed power; he kept the launches tight and sharp. Monaghan answered with a few uppercuts, and it was yet another tight round. In the tenth round, Monaghan pressed, and slipped adroitly. He ducked and slipped punches but those hard body punches took a toll on his body.
After the fight, trainer Joe Higgins said he didn’t think they won, but thought Monaghan won four rounds.
