Thomas “The Kid” O’Toole, wore down Ecuadorian Ismael Ocles over three stanzas before registering a fourth round TKO in Revere, Mass., last Saturday. The undefeated light heavyweight from Galway upped his ledger to 15-0 with 10 KOs after the win at the Oceanside Revere.
“The first three rounds were pretty kind of close in the sense that it was a tough fight,” O’Toole told the Echo. “But I kind of broke him down with a lot of body shots. And in the fourth round, I think he got tired and was worn down and I started to hit him a lot more.”
The result was a brutal fourth round for Ocles, who was dropped three times before referee Kevin Hope mercifully halted the assault at 2:48.
O’Toole scored the first knockdown with a straight left to the head.
“I'm a southpaw, so it was a two [power punch] for me. It was a straight left hand and he dropped, he dropped to a knee,” he explained.
Ocles beat the count but was soon re-introduced to the canvas after a flurry of punches. “I hit him with a good combination,” said O’Toole. “And then for the final knockdown, I hit him with another flurry, actually, and he dropped -- and I hit him with a straight left hand and he dropped and the referee waved it off.”
While the outcome saw Ocles’ record drop to 17-18-2 [win-loss-draw] with 3 KOs, O’Toole’s stock continues to rise. The Braintree, Mass., resident, who’s 27, is now being mentioned as a possible opponent for recently crowned Irish light heavyweight titlist Kevin Cronin.
Irish-boxing.com, in the belief that there was a rivalry between the two, asked O’Toole if he was interested in fighting “The Kingdom Warrior.”
O’Toole said no rivalry existed but with Cronin now a title holder, he makes an attractive opponent.
“It’s big in multiple venues and doable at several weights,” irish-boxing.com quotes O’Toole as saying about a fight with Cronin, adding that it would be a huge in either his native Galway, Cronin’s Kerry or Boston.
Possibly more importantly, it’s a match-up he is willing to make.
If it one that could be done, ‘The Kid’ believes it would attract attention.
“I’d be happy to step up to light heavy and challenge him for the Irish title,” he told Irish-boxing.com. “Or maybe we could fight for the super middleweight title. That’s a huge fight in Galway, Kerry or even Boston,” he added before stressing there has never been any bad blood between the pair.
“Never had beef with Kevin, I just knew it was a fight that could be made.”
