• Boxing

McCloskey snatches dramatic comeback win

Amir Khan stopped Paul McCloskey in the sixth round when they last met © PA Photos

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Paul McCloskey moved closer to a rematch with Amir Khan, the WBA and IBF light-welterweight champion, by outpointing Breidis Prescott in Belfast.

Prescott dominated the early stages before fading dramatically from round eight onwards, allowing McCloskey to complete an unlikely comeback victory. The judges called it 114-113, 115-113 and 114-113 in his favour.

Khan is expected to face Lamont Peterson in December, and it is unlikely that the narrow, unconvincing nature of McCloskey's win will force him ahead of Peterson in the queue.

Prescott was the livelier in the opening round, connecting cleanly with a few right hands, and forced a knockdown with 30 seconds left after catching McCloskey with an awkward-looking left hook. McCloskey's malaise deepened in the second when, having again walked straight into a punch, he was cut badly around the nose.

Although the Ulsterman has a reputation for starting slowly, this was sluggish even by his standards - and he struggled again in the third, standing within Prescott's range and lacking the head movement to avoid what was coming his way.

McCloskey fared far better throughout stanzas four and five, showing more vibrancy in his footwork and forcing Prescott onto the back foot - but the home favourite was by no means dominant, still wearing an unhealthy amount of punches.

He took a concussive right hook in the sixth, his legs wobbling alarmingly, confirming that Prescott was once again in the ascendancy. In the eighth McCloskey sowed the seeds of his comeback as Prescott appeared to tire, dropping his left hand and being peppered by the southpaw jab, and McCloskey was again impressive in the ninth, with Prescott's reflexes dulled by fatigue.

By the 11th the momentum was firmly behind McCloskey, who clearly had more energy than his opponent, fuelling home hopes of an unlikely recovery mission. And he made sure of the win with a stirring, blood-and-thunder 12th that sent Prescott on the road to defeat.

Earlier in the evening, Irish prospect Carl Frampton clinched the vacant Commonwealth super-bantamweight title with an impressive fourth-round stoppage of Mark Quon. Frampton, who is managed by Barry McGuigan, said after the fight that he will now target a European title shot.

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