Belfast fighter Sean McComb lost out in his bid to claim the Commonwealth lightweight title in Bolton last night.

The classy Turf Lodge southpaw’s title bid ended in the seventh round, after relentless pressure from the opening bell by Welsh opponent Gavin Gwynne. 

The Merthyr Tydfil man produced the fight of his career, constantly harrying box/fighter McComb, getting in close and never letting him settle into a winning hit and move strategy.

In an absorbing, bruising battle, blood flowed profusely from both boxers, at one stage a river of blood streaming down Gwynne’s spine from a cut on the top of his head sustained in the fifth round.

McComb started well, picking his shots to take the opening round, but also picking up a cut over the right eye and later in the fight a cut on his left cheek, as the close-quarter action took its toll on both men.

The Belfast man showed touches of class, great movement and peppering Gwynne with body and head shots but it wasn’t enough to stave off Gwynne’s attacks.

Afterwards, fans on social media were keen to hear from McComb ‘’where did it go wrong? Any excuses? Camp wasn’t right? Weight cut not right? ‘’

But in typical McComb straight-to-the-point honesty, the 28-year-old Turf Lodge man replied: ‘’No excuses. I'm a boxer that went toe to toe with a fighter, lol’’

He also posted on his Twitter account (@sugarseantl) a picture after the fight which graphically illustrated how hard the night's work had been but added: ‘’Firstly, gutted at my performance! Secondly, I was enjoying a good tear up at that time! It’s f…...g lethal! ‘’Finally I caught myself on, realised I've a child in the house while I was getting battered. 

‘’It's not about me anymore. #Family’’ 
 
The new Commonwealth champion paid McComb total respect.

“I’m speechless,” Gwynne said. “I put so much into this camp, I was super fit, no one was going to beat me. I could have been in with any world-class fighter and I wouldn’t have stopped. 

‘’And that was only first gear. Tony {Borg, his trainer] told me ‘don’t go up a gear, wait until he starts tiring’. But I didn’t have to.

“I knew I couldn’t stay on the backfoot with him. He was a world-class amateur, I couldn’t outbox him, I had to take it to him and take him out of his stride, then cut him up.

‘’I cut him in the first and I knew that would play on him, then I cut him in the second. Then I started going to work and started landing big shots. 

“Fair play to him, he stayed on his feet. I caught him with a big right on top of the head and he turned. I can’t find the words for how much this means to me.”