Gary Spike O'Sullivan back winning boxing matches and looking ahead to more fights next year

Gary 'Spike' O’Sullivan made a winning return to the boxing ring when he fought Polish fighter Mateusz Pawlowski in a six-round middleweight bout in a JB Boxing Promotions event at the National Stadium on Friday night.

Spike's last fight was against French fighter Sofiane Khati at the Royal Theatre in Castlebar, a fight he lost on points.

The 41-year-old made a solid start when he caught his opponent with a powerful right to the body. 

However, Pawloski used his jab to get himself out of trouble. 

O’Sullivan finished the round with a beautiful combination to the head and another powerful right to the body.

Spike continued to walk his opponent down in the second round and again went to work with some heavy body shots that clearly caught the judge's eyes. 

He used all his experience by making his opponent miss with some big shots and caught him on the way out with some telling blows.

By the third round, the pace had slowed down. 

O’Sullivan was very clever here, taking a breather while he was able to pick off his opponent by using a variety of different combinations.

The fourth round was very similar with O’Sullivan trying to control the right from the middle of the ring. 

Pawloski had a little more success while fighting behind his jab that left O’Sullivan know he was still in a fight.

Spike upped the tempo at the start of the fifth by letting his hands go. 

He hurt his opponent with a powerful overhead right to the head. 

Again, he showed all his expertise and landed cleaner shots.

One thing for sure is that Spike will need to buy new shorts, as he left pieces of his old ones all over the ring.

In the final round, O’Sullivan was able to dictate the pace and again hit cleaner shots. 

In the final minute, he got caught with a right hook to the head but the punch just bounced off and he finished strong to win 58-56 on points.

Spike was delighted to get back to winning ways and will be looking for a bigger fight in the near future.

"I am delighted to get the win and get some good rounds in against a very game opponent,” Spike said. 

"I fought with a torn bicep in my right arm that I hurt 13 days ago but nothing was going to stop me fighting tonight.

"My plan is now get an MRI scan to see what damage is done to my arm and hopefully, I can get the battle I want with Stoke native Nathan Heaney sometime next year."