By Ryan Burton

Family Arena, St. Charles, MO. - Ryan "The Irish Outlaw" Coyne (17-0) kept his record perfect when he defeated David McNemar (13-1) via unanimous decision.  McNemar was a fill in opponent for WBA cruiserweight champion Guillermo Jones who pulled out of the fight with an injury a week ago.  The scores were 115-113 twice and 116-112.

 

The fight started out slow as both fighters felt each other out.  Coyne hardly through any punches and McNemar was the busier fighter and appeared to win the round.  The action heated up as both men started to throw more leather in the second round.  McNemar trying to out muscle the smaller Coyne in the third round pushing him into the ropes.  Coyne found success when he would flick his jab and move.  Coyne landed a big left uppercut to the delight of the hometown crowd midway through the third.

 

McNemar landed a couple of big hooks as the fighters were clinched in the center of the ring.  The crowd erupted again as Coyne landed a series of uppercuts and hooks that rocked his opponent towards the end of the round. Big shots were exchanged again in the 5th round.  Big shots landed simultaneously that resulted in Coyne's mouthpiece flying out of his mouth from the force of the punch. 

 

The fight became more tactical from the 6th round on as neither fighter could pull away with the fight.  Coyne was effective when he boxed and used his jab from the outside while McNemar found success when they fought on the inside.  Coyne, sporting welts under both eyes came on in the 9th round but McNemar was able to land as well although he was starting to lose steam on his punches.

 

The crowd which had been very loud and vocal at the beginning of the fight was very quiet to start the 11th round.  Coyne had won the last few rounds but wasn't able to really dominate as much as the crowd wanted.  The tension could be felt in the air as the crowd waited for the hometown fighter to put his foot on the gas.  Coyne landed a big left upper cut that allowed the crowd to finally erupt.

 

The crowd cheered loudly as the the final round began.  McNemar put together a nice combination midway through the round but other than that neither fighter was able to land much on their opponent in a round that McNemar won on all three of the judges scorecards