# Paul McCloskey

Paul McCloskey (born 3 August 1979) is a former professional boxer from Northern Ireland who competed from 2005 to 2013. He held the British super-lightweight title from 2008 to 2009; the European super-lightweight title from 2009 to 2011; and challenged once for the WBA super-lightweight title in 2011. As an amateur, McCloskey won a silver medal in the welterweight division at the 2003 European Union Championships, and was an Irish Senior amateur champion.

## Gaelic games

McCloskey played both Gaelic football and hurling at underage and briefly at senior level for the local clubs in Dungiven – St. Canice's Dungiven and Kevin Lynch's respectively. He was part of the Dungiven side that won the Derry Senior Football Championship and Ulster Senior Club Football Championship in 1997.

## Amateur career

McCloskey boxed out of the St. Canices ABC and fought for Ireland at amateur level and was a three-time Irish champion and five-time senior Ulster champion in the light welterweight division. He failed to qualify for the 2004 Summer Olympics by ending up in third place at the 2nd AIBA European 2004 Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Warsaw, Poland.

## Professional career

McCloskey turned professional in March 2005 on the undercard of a bill that included Eamonn Magee and Neil Sinclair at the King's Hall, Belfast. In his debut McCloskey defeated experienced Englishman "Dangerous" David Kehoe with a third-round knockout.
In December 2007 he won the IBF International light-welterweight title, stopping Tontcho Tontchev in round four.
After beating Nigel Wright on points in July 2008, he fought Colin Lynes on 5 December 2008 for the vacant British light-welterweight title. McCloskey won, forcing Lynes to retire after the ninth round.
Following his British title victory, McCloskey was named Boxer of the Year at the Irish National Boxing Awards in January 2009.
On 13 March, McCloskey retained his British light-welterweight title in emphatic fashion with a fourth-round stoppage of Dean Harrison in Widnes.
McCloskey won the vacant European light welterweight title on 6 November 2009, when he defeated Spanish boxer Daniel Rasilla after original opponent and champion Mbaye withdrew due to injury.
McCloskey defended his European title against Giuseppe Lauri from Italy on 11 June at the Kings Hall, Belfast, with an 11th-round knockout.
McCloskey's next defence of his European title was against Barry Morrison in Letterkenny, County Donegal, on 2 October 2010. McCloskey won the fight with a seventh round stoppage of his Scottish opponent.
His third defence of the title would've been against second Italian challenger, Michele Di Rocco on 5 March 2011. Michele Di Rocco has a record of (21–1–1) with 12 kos and his only loss was by knockout in the 7th round against Giuseppe Lauri, whom McCloskey knocked out in the 11th round. But this match has been cancelled due to the Khan fight being worked out.

### McCloskey vs. Khan

He was defeated by Amir Khan at the Manchester Evening News Arena on Saturday 16 April 2011 when the fight was stopped in the sixth round. This was the result of an accidental head clash which left McCloskey with a cut above his eye.

### McCloskey vs. Prescott

McCloskey won his fight against Breidis Prescott in a world title eliminator on 10 September 2011 by unanimous decision, with two judges scoring the bout 114–113, and the third judge scoring it 115–113. During the fight Prescott dominated the early rounds, scoring a knockdown in the first round by clearly pushing his with his forearm and later breaking McCloskey nose which bleed heavily throughout the fight. However, McCloskey rallied in the second half of the fight and won the later rounds. The decision proved to be controversial with many believing Prescott had done enough to win.

## Professional boxing record

| 27 fights | 24 wins | 3 losses |
| By knockout | 12 | 1 |
| By decision | 12 | 2 |
| No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
| 27 | Loss | 24–3 | Dave Ryan | PTS | 8 | 21 Dec 2013 | First Direct Arena, Leeds, England | |
| 26 | Win | 24–2 | Manuel Pérez | UD | 12 | 22 Sep 2012 | Odyssey Arena, Belfast, Northern Ireland | Won vacant WBA Inter-Continental light-welterweight title |
| 25 | Loss | 23–2 | DeMarcus Corley | TKO | 10 (12), 2:28 | 5 May 2012 | King's Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland | |
| 24 | Win | 23–1 | Breidis Prescott | UD | 12 | 10 Sep 2011 | Odyssey Arena, Belfast, Northern Ireland | |
| 23 | Loss | 22–1 | Amir Khan | TD | 6 (12), 2:30 | 16 Apr 2011 | MEN Arena, Manchester, England | For WBA light-welterweight title; Unanimous TD: McCloskey cut from an accidental head clash |
| 22 | Win | 22–0 | Barry Morrison | TKO | 7 (12), 1:28 | 2 Oct 2010 | Regional Sports and Leisure Complex, Letterkenny, Ireland | Retained European light-welterweight title |
| 21 | Win | 21–0 | Giuseppe Lauri | KO | 11 (12), 0:45 | 11 Jun 2010 | King's Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland | Retained European light-welterweight title |
| 20 | Win | 20–0 | Daniel Rasilla | TKO | 9 (12), 2:15 | 6 Nov 2009 | Meadowbank Sports Arena, Magherafelt, Northern Ireland | Won vacant European light-welterweight title |
| 19 | Win | 19–0 | Dean Harrison | TKO | 4 (12), 1:50 | 13 Mar 2009 | Kingsway Leisure Centre, Widnes, England | Retained British light-welterweight title |
| 18 | Win | 18–0 | Colin Lynes | RTD | 9 (12) | 5 Dec 2008 | Goresbrook Leisure Centre, London, England | Won vacant British light-welterweight title |
| 17 | Win | 17–0 | Nigel Wright | PTS | 10 | 19 Jul 2008 | University Arena, Limerick, Ireland | |
| 16 | Win | 16–0 | César Bazán | PTS | 10 | 29 Mar 2008 | Regional Sports and Leisure Complex, Letterkenny, Ireland | |
| 15 | Win | 15–0 | Manuel Garnica | PTS | 10 | 2 Feb 2008 | University Arena, Limerick, Ireland | |
| 14 | Win | 14–0 | Tontcho Tontchev | TKO | 4 (12), 2:46 | 8 Dec 2007 | King's Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland | Won vacant IBF International light-welterweight title |
| 13 | Win | 13–0 | Dariusz Snarski | RTD | 6 (8), 3:00 | 20 Oct 2007 | National Stadium, Dublin, Ireland | |
| 12 | Win | 12–0 | Alfredo Di Feto | PTS | 8 | 25 Aug 2007 | The Point, Dublin, Ireland | |
| 11 | Win | 11–0 | Ivan Orlando Bustos | KO | 4 (10), 2:03 | 14 Jul 2007 | National Stadium, Dublin, Ireland | |
| 10 | Win | 10–0 | Chill John | PTS | 6 | 17 Feb 2007 | City Hall, Cork, Ireland | |
| 9 | Win | 9–0 | Eugen Stan | PTS | 6 | 10 Feb 2007 | Clanree Hotel, Letterkenny, Ireland | |
| 8 | Win | 8–0 | Silence Saheed | PTS | 4 | 9 Dec 2006 | ExCeL, London, England | |
| 7 | Win | 7–0 | Daniel Thorpe | RTD | 3 (6) | 4 Nov 2006 | Kelvin Hall, Glasgow, Scotland | |
| 6 | Win | 6–0 | Surinder Sekhon | KO | 1, 0:53 | 11 Mar 2006 | Newport Centre, Newport, Wales | |
| 5 | Win | 5–0 | Duncan Cottier | PTS | 6 | 18 Feb 2006 | Meadowbank Sports Centre, Edinburgh, Scotland | |
| 4 | Win | 4–0 | Henry Janes | TKO | 3 (4), 2:31 | 24 Nov 2005 | Sports Bar, Lurgan, Northern Ireland | |
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | Billy Smith | PTS | 4 | 5 Nov 2005 | Braehead Arena, Glasgow, Scotland | |
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Oscar Milkitas | PTS | 4 | 17 Jun 2005 | Kelvin Hall, Glasgow, Scotland | |
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | David Kehoe | TKO | 3 (4), 0:10 | 18 Mar 2005 | King's Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland | |