Both Stevie and Aaron McKenna recorded stoppage victories on Friday night as the brothers featured on a professional bill for the first time.
Aaron the younger of the 2 brothers was the first into the ring, and has become his trademark finish, a powerful body shot towards the end of the 2nd round seen his opponent Jordan Grannum fail to come out at the start of the 3rd.
Grannum who had only 5 wins to his name from 79 outings, had noted before hand that he had never been stopped in any of his fights, so he certainly brought an element of toughness into the ring, that was the perfect match for the "Silencer" who was getting his first outing in 2020.
Always in control of the fight from the first bell Aaron moved with pace around the ring, delivering combinations of punches that had Grannum tucking up for most of the opening 3 minutes.
The 2nd round was similiar to the first, with the majority of the Monaghan man's punches landing to good effect and beginning to soften the tuck nature of his opponent.
When the body shot eventually did get around the protective elbow and land squarely on the ribs, the wince of pain from Grannum followed by the taking of the knee on the canvas to see out the round, was to be the last piece of action, as the corner opted not to sent their man back out for further punishment.
Aaron now moves on to 11 professional wins from 11 outings, and will be hoping that if things open up a little more in 2021, some form of title fight may appear on the horizon.
For Stevie it was his 6 win on the trot from turning professional and it was the longest stint he had in the ring as a pro as M.J Hall went as far as the 5th round before the referee called a halt.
In a different approach to his brother, Stephen was looking to live up to his name of been the "Hitman" as he unleashed a barrage of powerful swinging punches in the opening rounds.
It is a strategy that had served him well in previous fights, but in fairness to Hall, while the punches were landing with power, he was taking them and goading his opponent for more.
However under the guidance of his father Fergal in the corner, the Hitman changed to assassin from round 3 as he started putting together combinations of punches similiar to Aaron and alternated between the body and head, which seen Hall while continuing to goad and look for more from his opponent, also not return anything of any value.
A number of straight punches down the middle in the 5th round, began to land behind the glove guard, and while at the time the stoppage may have seemed a bit harsh, it was no doubt the right call from the referee, who was exercising his right to provide a duty of care to the competitor.
All in all in was a good nights work for the 2 brothers, with Stevie in particular noting that been in the ring for the 5 rounds was a good learning experience
Stephen is scheduled to be back in the ring again this Friday night (18th)
Aaron Mc Kenna V Jordan Grannum
Stevie Mc Kenna V M.J Hall
