Dennis McCann defeats Ionut Baluta at the second time of asking

Dennis McCann put on a disciplined performance to win the European super bantamweight title and defeat Ionut Baluta in a rematch of their controversial draw.

Their first bout was scrappy and McCann was made to fight after suffering a cut. This time, he stuck to the instructions of his trainer Joe McNally, and was awarded a unanimous decision victory. All three judges scored the fight to McCann with the scorecards reading 120-108 and 117-111 twice.

McCann started the fight like a man possessed. Baluta didn’t shy away in the second and swung wild hooks, but the 23-year-old countered well. Baluta continued his pressure in the third and fourth but again McCann stayed disciplined and countered the Romanian.

In the fifth, McCann continued using his jab and angles, with Baluta landing the odd shot from a flurry of punches. Baluta, 30, hurt McCann to the body early in the sixth but the undefeated contender regrouped well to finish the round strong. McCann pushed forward in the seventh and hurt Baluta to the body with the Romanian happy to hear the bell. McCann, now 16-0-1 (8 KOs), continued to sink in the body shots in the eighth, but that didn’t stop Baluta swinging wildly.

Baluta started to get frustrated in the ninth after losing his footing and stumbling to the floor due to McCann’s sublime footwork. McCann then started to break Baluta down in the 10th, he continued his exert his control and then unloaded on the Romanian late in the round. McCann switched his attacks up to the head of Baluta in the 11th and had the fighter badly hurt at the end of the round. McCann looked like he was on the verge of stopping 16-5-1 (3 KOs) Baluta in the 12th but the experienced fighter spat out his mouthpiece and finished the round swinging.

Earlier on, Royston Barney-Smith outpointed Brian Barajas over eight rounds to pick up the WBO youth junior lightweight title despite suffering a cut. Barney-Smith was facing his toughest test since turning professional and the 20-year-old passed with flying colors.

Barney-Smith started the contest well, finding a home for his jab and landing a great left to the body. Barajas marched forward and a clash of heads caused a cut to open up above the eye of Barney-Smith in the second round. Barney-Smith remained unfazed and hurt Barajas with a powerful left hand in the third, causing the 23-year-old to scramble back. Barney-Smith seemed to tire towards the end of the fourth and Barajas capitalized with two strong right hands.

Barney-Smith came back strong in the fifth and landed heavy shots to the body and he had his best round of the fight in the sixth, when the youngster wobbled Barajas twice with his left hand. The Columbian pushed Barney-Smith back to the ropes in the next and unloaded, continuing his pressure in the eighth and Barney-Smith struggled to keep the game fighter off. The fight went to the scorecards and all three judges gave Barney-Smith a unanimous decision victory. The scorecards read 79-73 and 78-74 twice.