Paul McCloskey

Paul McCloskey may not have the fame and fortune of Amir Khan, but he boasts something the world champion cannot - an unbeaten record. The Irishman is yet to taste defeat in 22 fights - three less than his opponent - and is hoping to add the WBA strap to the British and European light-welterweight titles he has picked up along the way. Again, something his illustrious foe failed to do on his rise through the rankings. McCloskey though is no stranger to titles and while unlile Khan, he did have Olympic success to catapult him into the paid ranks, his amateur record is every bit as good. A talented youngster, he was born in Dungiven, where he still lives now and despite a talent for Gaelic football and hurling took up boxing at St Canices ABC and having decided to focus on one sport, he soon made a name for himself on the Irish scene. Boxing at light-welter, where he still plies his trade of course, McCloskey was crowned Irish champion three times and senior Ulster champion no fewer than five times, the first coming in his first eligible year as an 18-year-old, when he missed out on the Senior Irish title by just a point. Points were to undo his dreams of the Olympic Games as well and while Khan was flying the flag for Great Britain at the Athens games, McCloskey was left watching at home after missing out to a contentious decision in the second and final qualifying tournament in Poland. Ironically, one of the Europeans who went to Greece instead of him, was Italian Michele di Rocco, who he was due to defend his European title against before the small matter of a world title came calling! McCloskey though did box international and represented Ireland in two Commonwealth Games, reaching the quarter-finals in Kuala Lumpur in 1998 anbd losing to Darren Barker in Manchester four years later. He did box in the Europeans in 2003 but lost his first bout to the eventual silver medalist before he decided to turn pro with a long amateur career he estimates to have taken in more than 140 fights. The Olympic dream had kept McCloskey in the unpaid ranks until the relatively old age of 25, but as soon as he turned pro in March 2005 - while still doing a construction course at college - he made up for lost time. Debuting at the famous old venue of King's Hall in Belfast, he stopped David Kehoe in three and within the year had moved to 6-0. The biggest night of his early career came in December 2006 when he appeared at the ExCel in London on a packed undercard for Danny Williams-Audley Harrison II, alongside none other than Khan, to name but one! Boxing across Ireland, from Cork to Belfast, he steadily built a name for himself and a loyal following, all of whom will no doubt be at the MEN Arena on April 16. McCloskey though remains rooted in his hometown of Dungiven and still helps wife Emma run the EuroSpar supermarket, putting a shift in each morning before heading off to John Breen's gym in Belfast to train. That partnership picked up its first professional title in December 2007 when McCloskey stopped the experienced Toncho Tonchev in four to win the IBF International Light-Welterweight title, a success which not only brought silverware, but kickstarted his career. Within three months he had stopped former lightweight world champion Cesar Basan of Mexico, then in the summer of 2008 earned rave reviews for out-pointing English light-welterweight champion Nigel Wright, one of the gatekeepers to the 140lbs divisin across the Irish Sea. It also earned him another tough test against Colin Lynes, who was fresh from losing the European belt to Gianluca Branco in Italy, where many observers felt he did enough to win. There were no such controversies when McCloskey came to his backyard in Essex and a typically bustling display from the Irishman saw the vacant British title making its way back to Dungiven. His first defence saw Dean Harrison floored in the first and stopped in four before McCloskey's big moment came with a crack at the vacant European belt. If you've ever been to Magherafelt, Co Derry, there is not much to see, but Dudey put it on the map and Daniel Rasilla on the seat of his pants in a memorable night in November 2009 to become the champion of Europe. The move up in class did not change anything back in Dungiven, but what it meant that all of a sudden McCloskey was mixing in better boxing company and on the bigger state. The King's Hall was rocking as only it can when Giuseppe Lauri came to town in June, looking to take back the title that had pretty much been his since 2007. A busy start from McCloskey saw the challenger cut badly early on, but as things got rough, the favour was returned later and a bleeding champion was not helped by having a point deducted in the 10th. There might have been another unpleasant points decision waiting had McCloskey not dug in and stopped Lauri in the 11th, to retain his belt and dismiss one of the wiliest boxers Europe has at light-welterweight. His second defense was a little more straightforward as he jabbed his way to a seven-round win over Barry Morrison, the Scot beaten to exhaustion by a fighter looking every in the champion. With that out of the way, there were few challenges on the British scene left for McCloskey... until the call came from Khan. Negotiations were not smooth though and promoter Barry Hearn made it clear his man was not to be messed with and said the fight would not happen unless the WBA boss upped the stake. Thankfully for McCloskey and the thousands of Irishmen headed for Manchester, the deal was made and the home-loving family man from Dungiven now has the chance to follow his hero Barry McGuigan and the other Irish legends to life a world title down the years.