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McGuinness-Cotton wins pro debut
Friday July 25 2008 Orangeville’s Logan McGuinness-Cotton won his professional boxing debut in Limerick, Ireland on Saturday night with a unanimous decision over Latvian Juris Ivanovs.
Ivanovs (3-11) came into the fight with 14 professional bouts under his belt, but McGuinness-Cotton controlled the four-round lightweight (135 lbs) fight from start to finish, leaving the Latvian fighter with a bloodied nose at the end of the bout.
“I was definitely nervous over there,” McGuinness-Cotton said. “It’s a lot different than amateur. But I like it; it’s a slower pace. It was almost like sparring. I was more relaxed in the ring.”
McGuinness-Cotton, 20, controlled the opening round, landing a lot of strong left jabs, leaving Ivanovs unable to get inside to land any solid punches. McGuinness-Cotton opened up in the second round with some good combinations that started to wear down the Latvian, whose face was beginning to redden from the punishment.
“My defence was solid, and I was landing my jab all night,” McGuinness-Cotton said. “He didn’t hurt me at all, and I think my jab was slowing him down.”
By the fourth round McGuinness-Cotton’s conditioning was relevant as he moved around the ring smoothly, cornering his opponent and cruising to the win. All three judges scored the fight 40-36, meaning that McGuinness-Cotton won all four rounds.
McGuinness-Cotton started boxing with Bryon Mackie at the Big Tyme Boxing club at the age of 15, compiling a 60-15 amateur record, including a junior national title in 2006.
“I feel like I had a lot of experience as an amateur, and I’m ready for this next step,” he said. “Even in amateur, a lot of people said that I was a pro-style boxer.”
The local fighter has his sights set high for his professional career.
“World Champion. That’s the highest goal you can have. Just like [current IBF junior featherweight world champion] Steve Molitor, I look up to him. I’ve sparred with him, and his work ethic has inspired me.”
Up next for McGuinness-Cotton is a fight Aug. 15 in Edmonton against an opponent to be named later. He took two days off following the fight before getting back in the gym. He will move down to super featherweight (130 lbs) for the upcoming bout.
“There are some things I learned from this fight that I’ll have to work on for Edmonton.... But for my first fight I was happy with how it went.”

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