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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Sport
Robert Hynes

Kurt Walker and Kieran Molloy make winning professional debuts on Josh Taylor v Jack Catterall undercard

Kurt Walker and Kieran Molloy both made winning starts to their professional careers in Glasgow on Saturday evening.

The two Irish fighters were making their pro bows on the Josh Taylor v Jack Catterall undercard at the OVO Hydro in the city.

Galway's Molloy fought in the second fight of the night and was in total control of the super-welterweight bout from the first bell against Spanish opponent Damian Esquisabel.

He hurt the Spaniard with a flurry of body shots and punches to the face as he displayed a wide range of skills in his arsenal.

Esquisabel did make it to the end of the first round, but the referee stepped in to stop the bout in the second and Molloy, who was roared on by a large support at ringside, had his arm raised in victory.

Tokyo 2020 Olympian Walker was in the ring straight after Molloy's fight and it took him very little time to stop his Czech opponent Jaroslav Hriadel, who was outclassed right from the start of the featherweight contest.

Kieran Molloy (Mikey Williams/Top Rank Inc via Getty Images)

Walker knocked him down with a thunderous left to the body in the first round and Hriadel, who came into the bout having lost two of his first three pro bouts, couldn't get back up from it.

Speaking after the fight, Walker said: "I felt brilliant.

"I knew to work him to the body, so the first 90 seconds I used the right hand to the body, and then when I changed it up it came with the knockdown and the victory.

"So I am delighted."

The Lisburn native added: "I have been working on body shots every single day. I threw them but I wasn't using too much force. I was still a bit like the amateurs, so I tried to sit down on them a bit more.

"I was a bit too fast so I have plenty of learning to do."

Walker made the move to the pro ranks after his Olympics defeat to America's Duke Ragan, who went on to win silver in Tokyo last summer with former Team Ireland coach Billy Walsh in his corner.

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