By Brendan Galbraith– The setting for today’s weigh-in was a first floor function room in the Wellington Park Hotel, Belfast. In one corner of the room stood a confident Sam Sexton with his trainer, Graham Everett; in the opposite corner was a fired-up Martin Rogan and his new trainer Paul McCullagh. In between both men, was MC Mike Woodhall and former British Flyweight Champion, Hugh Russell, now performing with aplomb the officiator role.
First onto the scales was a trim and well-conditioned Martin Rogan, who weighted-in at 234 Ilbs. Rogan, relishing the role of home favourite, let out a ferocious roar and then a second battle cry of “C’mon Belfast” to his cheering fans..
Next up was the turn of the Commonwealth Champion, Sam Sexton, who weighted-in at a heavier 241 Ilbs. Sexton mustering up a stellar amount of gravitas, embraced the psychological warfare by eyeballing Rogan and symbolically pointing his forefingers in the air, as if to gesture “I’m number one”.
In the tense head-to-head both men were keen to gain an upper hand in the psychological battle, firstly, with Sexton attempting to place his fist under Rogan’s chin for the eager photographers. Rogan, quickly brushed Sexton’s fist away and as soon as the photographers had got their shots, both men were quickly separated. And that is the way it remained, both men were in separate rooms as they awaited the obligatory meeting with the doctor.
Also, in attendance at the weigh-in was John Rawling and Eamon Magee.
Below are the weights for the fighters on the undercard. It should be noted that Neil Sinclair’s opponent, Janos Petrovics, arrived late to the weigh-in, although still within the required time line and managed to complete his weigh in at 153 Ilbs (3 Ilbs lighter than Neil). The only other slight drama concerned Joe Rea’s opponent, Phillip Townley, – who came in 2Ilbs above the agreed weight at 163Ilbs at the first attempt. At the second opportunity, he came in right on the weight at 161Ibs.
Below are the full details from the weight:
Martin Rogan 234 Ilbs v Sam Sexton 241 Ilbs
Neil Sinclair 156 Ilbs v Janos Petrovics 153 Ilbs
Kevin O’Hara 134 Ilbs v Mickey Coveney 133 Ilbs
Ciaran Healy 163 Ilbs v Lee Noble 164 Ilbs
Joe Rea 156 Ilbs v Phillip Townley 161 Ilbs
Jamie Conlan 116 Ilbs v Anwar Alfadi 114 Ilbs
Luke Wilton 112 Ilbs v Kevin Coglan 101 Ilbs
Rogan-Sexton II will be at The Odyssey Arena in Belfast on Friday 6th November 2009. Also, on an impressive undercard is Neil Sinclair and Alex Arthur, Kevin O’Hara, Joe Rea, Jamie Conlan (making his professional debut), Luke Wilton and Ciaran Healy.
Tickets: price categories £30, £40, £60, £100 and £150 are available from:
Odyssey Arena Box Office
02890 739 074
www.odysseyarena.com
Ticketmaster 0870 243 4455 www.ticketmaster.ie
Frank Warren Promotions 01992 550 888 www.frankwarren.tv