{"id":454640,"date":"2026-02-03T00:36:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T00:36:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/454640\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T00:36:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T00:36:09","slug":"kiaran-macdonald-28-pro-debut-goes-viral-as-boxing-fans-react-to-mismatch-with-39-year-old-opponent-international-sports-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/454640\/","title":{"rendered":"Kiaran MacDonald, 28, pro debut goes viral as boxing fans react to mismatch with 39 year old opponent | International Sports News"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"KiaranKiaran MacDonald, 28, pro debut goes viral as boxing fans react to mismatch with 39 year old opponent (Image via Getty) Kiaran MacDonald stepped into the pro boxing ring for the first time this weekend, and fans could not believe what they were seeing. The 28-year-old Commonwealth Games silver medalist made his professional debut, but instead of a balanced first fight, he faced an opponent many felt had no real chance. Within minutes, clips from the bout began spreading online, with viewers calling the matchup unfair, confusing, and hard to watch.MacDonald fought on the undercard of Josh Kelly\u2019s IBF light-middleweight title fight against Bakhram Murtazaliev. While the night was meant to celebrate MacDonald\u2019s move into professional boxing, the focus quickly shifted to his opponent, 39-year-old Lithuanian veteran Marius Vysniauskas. Fans pointed out the clear size difference, the age gap, and Vysniauskas\u2019 long losing record. Many questioned how the fight was approved in the first place. Even though debut fighters often face experienced journeymen, this bout felt different to many watching. The reaction online was instant and loud, turning what should have been a quiet first win into a viral talking point across boxing social media.<\/p>\n

Kiaran MacDonald dominates Marius Vysniauskas as fans question matchmaking on Josh Kelly undercard<\/p>\n

From the opening round, Kiaran MacDonald looked far stronger and sharper than Marius Vysniauskas. MacDonald controlled the ring, landed clean shots, and pushed the pace from start to finish. Vysniauskas stayed on his feet, but he struggled to match the younger fighter\u2019s speed and power.What surprised fans even more was the visual difference. MacDonald appeared much bigger in the ring, even though BoxRec lists Vysniauskas at 5 feet 6 inches and MacDonald at 5 feet 5 inches. On screen, it looked like MacDonald was towering over him, which added to the confusion around the matchup.Social media reactions poured in during the fight. One fan asked, \u201cWhose dad is he fighting?\u201d Another wrote, \u201cThis fight is an exhibition, right?\u201d A third said, \u201cThere is no way this should be a sanctioned bout.\u201d Others simply called it \u201ccrazy matchmaking.\u201dDespite taking heavy punishment, Vysniauskas showed toughness and lasted the full fight. MacDonald won by points, securing his first professional victory. One viewer commented, \u201cFair play to him, he can really take a punch.\u201dFor Vysniauskas, the loss extended a long and difficult run. After starting his career with three straight wins, he has now lost 28 fights in a row. He has remained active, including fighting five times in six months during 2024.Later that night, the main event saw Josh Kelly defeat Bakhram Murtazaliev by majority decision to win the IBF light-middleweight title, according to official fight records.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kiaran MacDonald, 28, pro debut goes viral as boxing fans react to mismatch with 39 year old opponent…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":454641,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,40502,234582,234584,234583,234581,234585,74705,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-454640","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boxing","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-boxing","11":"tag-boxing-debut","12":"tag-boxing-mismatch","13":"tag-boxing-social-media-reactions","14":"tag-boxing-viral-reactions","15":"tag-kiaran-macdonald","16":"tag-marius-vysniauskas","17":"tag-professional-boxing-debut","18":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=454640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454640\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/454641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=454640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=454640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=454640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}