The 19-year-old improved his unbeaten record with a dominant display.
By the time of his 21st birthday, Aaron McKenna told us, he wants to be the 147 lb champion of the world.
On Saturday night, the Monaghan teenager took another step towards that goal with an impressive, comfortable win that takes his professional record to 5-0.
The Smithboro native was signed up by Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions last year and has been training and sparring with elite boxers, in the United States, like Lenny Zappavigna, Fabian Maidana and former IBF light welterweight champion Sergey Lipinets.
His grounding is good and the hard work is going on in and out of the ring. Facing Rolando Mendivil on the undercard of the Jesus Roja vs. Joseph Diaz Jr. featherweight title fight, McKenna put all that work and preparation into practice.
Over four rounds, McKenna threw 362 punches to Mendivil’s 324 but, significantly, the Irishman landed 136 of his (37.6%) compared to his opponent’s 70 (21.6%). His over-hand rights were landing flush but Mendivil was damn tough and ate most of them without getting into serious trouble.
Credit: Golden Boy PromotionsHe was the alpha boxer throughout the bout and the only thing his performance was missing was a knock-out to add to the three he had amassed in his first four pro outings.
Mendivil made it to the final bell but all three judges went unanimously in favour of the Irish fighter. All three scored the fight 40-36 in McKenna’s favour and it was a popular decision in the arena and on Facebook, where the fight was being broadcast live.
Following his unanimous decision victory, McKenna told Rocsi Diaz he was delighted with the win and getting four rounds under his belt. He felt that if the fight had been six rounds that KO would have arrived.
McKenna says he is hoping to get back in the ring for his sixth pro fight ‘very soon’ so he will enjoy his latest success before returning to the gym.
“Thanks for staying up!” he said to Irish fans watching back home in the early hours of Sunday morning.
