Peter Queally more than lived up to his ‘Showstopper’ moniker in Russia last weekend.
Before Fight Nights Global 87, SBG fighter Peter Queally hadn’t experienced a finish in his 15 professional fights. His 10 wins went the distance, his four losses were decisions and, of course, he had that controversial draw.
His opponent for the headline act, David Khachatryan, hadn’t had a finish in three years. All three of his losses were via decision too. So, on paper, this bout had ‘decision’ written all over it.
Even the commentator saw it trending this way. About 90 seconds into the fight, he was forced to eat his own words as a right hand from Queally saw his adversary take a seat on the canvas.
“Both men tend to go to the decision. You don’t see a lot of finishes from either one of the guys.”
Khachatryan was quick to pop up. Although Qeaully remained aggressive, he was clever enough to conserve his energy and not try to force the finish. Khachatryan was still very much in the fight and landed some nice punches after getting back to his feet.
Queally really utilised his reach advantage as the fight neared its conclusion. He charged forward with some decent combos, that forced Khachatryan to retreat. Eventually, another right hand landed flush that sent Khachatryan crashing to the fence.
This time, Queally sensed the knockout was coming. He swarmed his downed adversary with a couple more forceful shots to seal his first ever win inside the distance.
Peter "The Showstopper" Queally stops the damn show in the first round. First round KO over David Khachatryan. @peterqueally #FNG87 pic.twitter.com/nlXvru5x8R
— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) May 19, 2018
Real life Rocky
It looked like a good stoppage from the referee. However, Khachatryan was quick to recover after appearing to go out on the ground. He stood back up to protest while the fans inside the KSK Express showered Queally with boos.
The commentator also noted that water bottles were hurled at the cage after the fight ended. One bottle could be seen bouncing on the canvas, just to Queally’s left, as the result was made official.
Queally made it home safely. He let his fans know on social media that he was escorted back to his hotel by armed police.
I am ok everyone, mad scene here, being escorted by armed guard and moving hotel. You’ll never beat the Irish hahahahha
— Peter Queally (@peterqueally) May 19, 2018
The result saw Queally return to the win column following after a majority decision loss and a draw in his past two fights. Meanwhile, Khachatryan’s win-streak was snapped at three.
You can check out the full fight in the video embedded below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUG_Ltk-OX0