That must have felt like the longest 10 seconds of Stephen Tiffney’s life.
And that’s because the bell failed to ring for a full seven seconds after it should have as David Oliver Joyce piled on the punishment towards the end of the seventh round in Dubai and earned the WBO European featherweight title at the Emirates Gold Club.
Mullingar’s Joyce, a former Irish Olympian, claimed his first title as a professional when the referee in charge of his clash against Tiffney saw enough at the end of the seventh frame.
Tiffney had sustained plenty of damage leading up to the stoppage and it’s impossible to determine whether he would have had enough time to recover in the minute between rounds but the Scotsman will probably feel hard done by the fact that the timekeeper accidentally added some extra seconds.
That’s not to take away from Joyce’s victory as the Irishman was beginning to take charge of the fight, having dropped Tiffney earlier in the seventh of 10 scheduled rounds.
And after extending his perfect professional record to 10-0, Joyce set his sights on a fight at world-level against the likes of WBO featherweight champion, Oscar Valdez.
“A lot of people see where my pedigree is and I know I can mix it with the best,” Joyce said after his win.
“I boxed Oscar Valdez as an amateur in 2009, and I’ve mixed it with Carl Frampton too. They all know I can compete with the top-level boxers in my division, which is featherweight.
“To all of the featherweights out there in Ireland and in England, Davey Oliver is in town.”
