Tyrone McKenna admits he has a decision to make as regards his future in boxing following his fifth-round defeat to Mohamed Mimoune at the SSE Arena on Saturday night.
The west Belfast man went into battle having overturned a decision to hang up his gloves following defeat to Lewis Crocker at the same venue in December but insists there will be no hasty decisions this time around.
Mohamed Mimoune lands a blow on Tyrone McKenna during their fight at the SSE Arena
He had announced his retirement the morning after the Crocker defeat but, as the weeks passed, felt that he had jumped the gun.
This time, he will take a little time to reflect on what he will do next as he has lost four of six fights since defeating the Frenchman in early 2020.
It seemed he was on course to repeat that win early on Saturday night, with his long jab damaging the visitor’s left eye to the extent it was virtually swollen shut, but Mimoune went for broke, and his body attack saw him flip things his way.
“I jumped the gun last time and retired a bit early, but this time, I’ll just see what the options are – maybe do more sit-ups,” said the 34-year-old with a rueful smile afterwards.
“If I had a better body, I would have won that easy, and the doctor said he would have stopped it if he was referred for the swollen eye. I was probably only one round from beating him.
“When I hit him in the first, it began to swell, and I just kept hitting him with the jab, but he got to the body before he got to the referee.
“Maybe we’ll do a third fight, we’ll see. He cried for four years and I gave him the rematch when I didn’t have to.
“It was a hard fight, and I knew this would be a hard fight, but it was one I wanted to revisit, and I’m glad we did as he deserved the opportunity.”
Mohamed Mimoune delivers a knockout blow to clinch the victory against Tyrone McKenna
An all-out war was expected from the off, but this fight was rather cagey to begin with as McKenna opted to box, and his jab was on point in this battle of southpaws.
The damage to Mimoune was there for all to see early in the third and perhaps he knew that a doctor’s inspection could see his challenge ended, so there was no option but to go for it.
In the fourth, he had McKenna down from a body shot the Belfast man defiantly rose from and prompted him to go toe-to-toe as the slugfest anticipated had arrived.
But Mimoune was getting on top, and in the fifth, another shot downstairs was the clincher.
“I have to think he knew he didn’t have many rounds left with that eye if he was getting referred to the doctor and put his foot on the gas,” McKenna reflected.
“He knew he was hurting me to the body, and every time he did, he was stepping up. Eventually, I hit the ground and couldn’t breathe. If I wanted to, I couldn’t get up. I’ve a chin of granite but a glass body.
“It was entertaining while it lasted, and we gave the crowd their money’s worth. I loved the fight as it was going on and wished I could have continued, but just that body shot – there’s nothing you can do when you are hurt like that.”
Tyrone McKenna makes his way to the ring ahead of his clash with Mohamed Mimoune