Seanie Monaghan remains undefeated after MSG win

The bout at Madison Square Garden resulted in a fifth-round technical knockout after Seanie Monaghan, left, dropped opponent Janne Forsman. Photos courtesy Mikey Williams, Top Rank

Monaghan celebrated his victory against Forsman on Feb. 27 with trainer Joe Higgins, left, and manager P.J. Kavanagh, third from left.

Photos by Mikey Williams, Top Rank

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After slugging out a 10-round victory by unanimous decision against Donovan “Da Bomb” George in October, professional boxer Seanie Monaghan clinched another victory last weekend after he defeated Janne Forsman at The Theatre at Madison Square Garden in much quicker fashion.

Monaghan (27-0, 17 KO’s), a Long Beach resident, finished off the Finland native by technical knockout in round five after a series of punches left Forsman unable to return the assault.

“I think I’m guilty of fighting to whatever level my opponent is,” Monaghan said. “I wasn’t super excited about fighting [Forsman] and I probably could have been a little bit sharper if I respected the guy a little bit more.”

The current North American Boxing Organization and WBC Continental Americas light heavyweight champion connected on a barrage of body blows at the end of the fourth round, crippling Forsman against the ropes before notching his 17th career knockout the following round.

“I could tell he was having a bad reaction to it every time I hit him with a body shot,” Monaghan said, “and my trainer told me between rounds to stay in the body and he’ll be out of there soon.”

Monaghan said owners of The Bungalow took him to their restaurant in West End when he returned to Long Beach after the fight; they opened the eatery and cooked a big meal for him and his wife.

As the fifth-ranked light heavyweight in the United States, Monaghan said Sergey Kovalev of Russia and Juergen Braehmer from Germany have expressed interest in fighting him this year. The two other champions in his weight class want to face off against Monaghan in their home country, he said, adding that the bout would be for a world title, his ultimate goal.

“That’s it, man,” said Monaghan. “That’s what I’ve been working for all these years.”