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O’Regan drops decision to G.G. favorite

February 16, 2011

By Staff Reporter

Many in the sellout 1,500 crowd booed the decision, indicative of the general displeasure at the official outcome of an absorbing bout that seemed a toss up until the third and final stanza.
The five judges scored it 4-1 for Legrand, a 25-year-old Haitian immigrant from Brooklyn’s GYMU club.
As he had done before in the New York Daily News-sponsored Golden Gloves tournament, O’Regan rose to the occasion against an highly touted opponent, matching him punch for punch for most of the fight and outboxing him in a clinical second round.
A 28-year-old Limerick-born carpenter, O’Regan wasn’t as dominant in the third round, but still appeared to have done enough to earn the nod.
In his dressing room afterward, O’Regan was in two minds over his 2004 Gloves campaign.
“I’m disappointed at not getting the decision but overall, I’m pleased with my performance in the Gloves,” he said, adding: “I felt good. I thought I had the first and second rounds.”
The game plan, according to the Irishman’s Morris Park trainer, Wendell Williams, was to stay close to the hard-hitting Legrand, move side to side, tie him up when he went on the attack and throw power shots from angles.
O’Regan didn’t execute the plan to perfection in the opening round as he got caught by Legrand’s vaunted right and came out second best in the numerous back-and-forth exchanges.
The bell sounded with O’Regan’s nose bloodied.
Still, O’Regan’s dripping nose was not a factor in the second stanza as he emerged to paint a boxing masterpiece, outjabbing and tattooing Legrand with sharp combinations. It was probably the Yonkers resident’s finest round in the 77th Daily News Golden Gloves, and one that left him three minutes from reaching the semifinals.
Round three, however, was a different story as Legrand, probably aware that he needed a big effort to survive, came out stalking his Irish opponent.
Surprisingly, O’Regan seemed tentative, even as he tried darting in and out with jabs.
Legrand was the aggressor and may have won the round when referee Rudy Thompson called timeout and asked the fight doctor to examine O’Regan’s still bleeding nose.
O’Regan would later say that the nose bleed probably swayed the judges against him.
“He was a good puncher, but I made him miss,” he said. “I was trying to avoid his heavy punches. He didn’t hit me flush.”
Said coach Williams: “Don gave him hell and he [Legrand] wasn’t as devastating as he was supposed to be.”
O’Regan also got the endorsement of his father, Jim, visiting from Limerick. “He done very well. I’m proud of him,” the senior O’Regan said.
A quarterfinalist at 178 pounds two years ago, O’Regan’s next order of business will be to get his bothersome left shoulder fixed. He then plans a third crack at the Golden Gloves, in the 165-pound open division this time, next year.
The loss to Legrand dropped O’Regan’s all-time Golden Gloves record to 6-2 over two tournaments.

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