McCloskey vs. Prescott Results:
In a junior welterweight eliminator match, Paul McCloskey edged Breidis Prescott and took home a unanimous decision. As expected, it was a clash of two styles, with McCloskey bringing slicker skills with him to the ring, and Prescott bringing his homerun power and swing for the fences style. It was an even match, but McCloskey was able to do enough and pile up the points to earn the nod.
McCloskey was actually sent down to the canvas in the first round, although it didn’t appear to be from a clean punch. Nevertheless a knockdown was called and Prescott was brimming with confidence, and it continued to mount, as McCloskey began to bleed in the second stanza.
However, in between big punches landing, McCloskey was doing more effective work and winning rounds. Prescott had McCloskey hurt again later in the bout, in the sixth, but couldn’t send him down or close the show.
The final scorecards read 114-113 twice, and 115-113, for Paul McCloskey. It was a tough fight to score but McCloskey’s superior skills and crisper punches won the day.
Unfortunately for Prescott, this all but derails his hopes of a rematch with Amir Khan. Billing himself as the “Khan-queror”, Prescott was counting on a victory here putting him into place for a shot at Khan, whom he previously destroyed in 1 round while both were still fighting at lightweight. Khan was open to the idea of rematching Prescott and getting that lasting image out of everyone’s heads, but now that opportunity won’t be coming around anytime soon.
Of course, that doesn’t mean McCloskey is going to get his rematch either. Khan has bigger fish to try than McCloskey, particularly after he cruised past him in their previous meeting.
The McCloskey vs. Prescott bout was aired in the United States on ESPN3.com.
