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Light Rain Fog/Mist 'Irish' Seanie Monaghan retains title
Following win at Prudential Center, pro boxer will return to MSG June 13
Long Beach’s own “Irish” Seanie Monaghan retained his WBC Continental Americas title following a bloody 10-round bout at the Prudential Center in New Jersey on May 8, in which the boxer endured one of his more challenging fights since he turned pro five years ago.
Monaghan (24-0, 15 KOs) won by unanimous decision over Cleiton Conceicao (20-7-2, 16 KOs), a former Brazilian Olympian, despite a nasty cut above his right eye in the second round following a head butt by Conceicao. Still, Monaghan persevered throughout the fight and kept pressing his opponent, who didn’t open up until the ninth round, he said.
“I felt like I had to chase the guy to make the fight [entertaining],” Monaghan said. “He really didn’t want to fight for the first eight rounds. I think he thought he hurt me … he jumped on me and started letting his hands go, but nothing was landing. That guy got heart — he was on the Brazilian Olympic team so he’s no slouch.”
Just hours before he entered the ring, Monaghan received devastating news: his uncle, Eddie Slick, had passed away in Ireland, and Monaghan dedicated the fight to him.
Fighting on the undercard of Top Rank’s main event featuring Michel Soro and Glen “Jersey Boy” Tapia — broadcast on truTV’s MetroPCS Friday Night Knockout — Monaghan landed some of the bigger shots of the fight and regularly trapped Conceicao in nearly every corner.
“Once he saw the blood he got excited,” Monaghan said of Conceicao. “He was in great shape but he was being really careful. When a guy sees blood like that, he knows he can win the fight if he makes that cut worse. Every time we got close, he would grab me and rub his forehead into that cut.”
Though Conceicao gave Monaghan a bit of a difficult time, it was not enough to clinch the win. Monaghan ultimately won nearly every round by scores of 99-91 and 98-92 twice.
“I could see him winning the last two rounds, but when he opened up and started swinging for the fences, I was blocking them,” Monaghan said. “I came out and everywhere I went he was on the opposite side of the ring. I wanted to rumble and have an exciting fight, but he was doing everything he could to take the action out of the fight. It’s a shame that it took him that long to wake up and start fighting — it would have been a more exciting fight.”
