Heckmondwike's Cory O'Regan loses unbeaten record in Commonwealth title fight

Heckmondwike professional boxer Cory O'Regan. Picture: Mark Robinson Matchroom Boxing

Heckmondwike's Cory O'Regan saw his unbeaten professional boxing record ended when he challenged for the Commonwealth junior-welterweight title.

Southpaw O'Regan, who learned his trade at Dicky's Gym, was on the DAZN bill at the Co-Op Arena, in Manchester, headlined by the heavyweight clash between Joe Joyce and Filip Hrgovic.

The Batley gym star was given his big chance for a prestigious title after steadily building his career with 14 wins from his first 14 pro fights and .

Against champion Jack Rafferty the 29-year-old made a decent start, showing off his skills on the back foot largely and getting ahead, before getting caught by a good punch and going on to suffer an inside the distance defeat.

In the third round O’Regan appeared to be hurt by a powerful body shot then was caught by a right hand to be floored near the end of the round.

He had been left exposed after a clinch when the referee appeared to move O’Regan’s arm down leaving him defenceless but not calling break.

Despite the heavy fall Cory bravely got up and he was happy to hear the bell for the end of the round, taking another big shot a second after the bell.

In the fourth the Heckmondwike boxer’s head appeared to have cleared as he looked to fight back, but he went down again after taking another right hand, although there was more controversy as the referee ruled it had been a slip.

O’Regan managed to make it into the fifth round, but as bravely as he aimed to land his own telling the punches the writing was on the wall as the bigger punches of Rafferty continued to trouble him.

Cory's corner stepped in to save their man from taking too much further punishment as they threw the towel in and pulled O’Regan out of the fight for a fifth round stoppage.

It had been a big step up for the Batley gym star with Rafferty’s ruthless display having observers tipping a big future at a higher level.

While for O’Regan it is time to regroup. His bravery won him more fans and his team, headed by his former world title contender manager Matt Macklin, is confident he can bounce back for another title shot after some time to recover.