Belfast’s Sean McComb produced a masterful performance in Monte Carlo, stopping hometown boy, Hugo Micallef, in the eight round to retain his IBF European super-lightweight title.
Opening the Matchroom Boxing card in the luxurious Salle des Etoiles, “The Public Nuisance” dominated from the opening bell, sending his adversary to the canvas three times across the contest, making it three wins from three in 2025, strengthening his claim for a world title shot next year.
From the outset, McCombs experience, composure, and class was clear, as the slick Belfast southpaw set the tone in the opening round, dictating the distance and rhythm of the bout with a pawing right hand that allowed him to line up his trademark straight left hand.
That shot become the story of the fight, with McComb finding a home for it early in the third, as the Belfast-man parried a jab from Micallef and fired a piston-like rear hand through Micallef’s guard, dropping the Monaco man.
As the bout progressed, McComb only grew sharper, as midway through the bout, Micallef again attempted to burst forward and close the distance, only to be met with another sumptuous straight left hand that sent him stumbling backwards, which McComb followed up with a thudding left hook to the body.
From early on in the bout, it was the type of shot selection that separated the pair, with McComb’s experience glaringly obvious, calm, calculated and clinical in his strikes, with Micallef desperately trying to break the rhythm, inevitably being punished every time he lunged in.
McCombs work to the body became a decisive factor by the sixth, as with a minute to go in the round, Micallef overcommitted with a straight right, with McComb capitalising on the opening, slipping the shot and digging a heavy left hook into the “Fresh Prince of Monaco’s” ribs, before unloading a barrage of combination strikes to his head.
Hurt and retreating after McCombs onslaught, Micallef swung wildly to try and buy himself some space, but McComb read it cleanly, and slipped outside, before driving another perfectly timed left hook to the body, forcing Micallef to the canvas for a second time.
Sensing that his opponent was out of his depth, McComb relentlessly pressed through seven and eight, snapping his jab into Micallef’s line of sight to set up a direct pathway for his straight left hand.
With forty seconds remaining in the eight round, McComb landed the shot of the night, one that was foreshadowed from early on, another clean backhand down the pipe, snapping Micallef’s head back violently.
Instead of rushing in recklessly to finish his visibly hurt opponent, the World Title hopeful showed his maturity, and waited for the guard to drop before threading a combination of hooks through the guard, sending Micallef to the canvas for the final time with yet another left hand before the referee waved the bout off.
Post fight, an emotional McComb dedicated the victory to his late grandmother, before making his intentions clear in the aftermath, publicly calling out IBF super lightweight world champion, Richardson Hitchins, as he continues his strides towards a world title shot.