AFTER signing a professional contract with MGM, former amateur star Steven Ward expects to be in the British light-heavyweight title mix within a couple of years.
Spain-based fighting stable MGM already has Belfast boxers Jamie Conlan, Marc McCullough and Tyrone McKenna on its books and Ward, a three-time Ulster and five-time Irish champion and Commonwealth Games silver medallist, says he is “buzzing” to start climbing the pro ladder.
“I can’t wait,” he said.
“It’s been in the background for the last two months, I’ve just been trying to get things negotiated and waiting for the nod.
“I got the nod and now I’m buzzing, I’m really looking forward to it.”
Ward spent his amateur career as a heavyweight but after discussing his options with his grandfather Gordon Hanna (a former coach at Sandy Row ABC and St Agnes’s ABC) he decided to box at light-heavyweight in the pro ranks.
“Everybody says ‘you’re coming down from 91kg to 81kg’, but it’s actually 79.8kg which is a big drop. But I’ve always been a light-heavyweight, I always walked about at 93kg at the most and came down to fight at 91kg and it was very, very easy, it was never a hassle.
“I always loved fighting a light-heavy but the only thing was having to make it day-in and day-out at tournaments at amateur level was just too much. In the pros there’s one weigh-in and then you have 24 hours to rehydrate and refuel so it suits me.
“I think I’ll be one of the biggest light-heavyweights about.
“I sat down with my coach and my granda and talked about it and I told them how much I loved fighting at light-heavyweight. My granda agreed with me and said it was the weight for me, he’s been a coach on the Belfast scene for donkeys years and he’s the one that introduced me into boxing.
“I always go to him and he’ll call a spade a spade – if you were rubbish he’ll tell you you were rubbish!”
Ward (26) hopes to make his professional debut next month and he intends to keep busy as he gets used to the professional ranks.
“I expect in the first year to have six fights which is pretty busy,” he said.
“Every two months I intend to be out. MGM are running that many shows they are able to get you fights. I’m hoping to get the ball rolling after the summer and I’d love it to be in Belfast, but I’m not too sure if that’s possible.
“There’s been talks about having a show over here so hopefully that happens because since I announced I was going pro I was overwhelmed by all the support I’ve got.”
Ward explained that MGM representatives travelled to Belfast to sign him after he had made his intentions to turn pro clear.
“I was really chuffed when I heard they would be interested in coming over and chatting to me,” he said.
“I had been talking to mutual friends through Mick Conlan telling them that I was interested in going pro and he was talking to his brother Jamie and it just snowballed.
“We got talking and they came across and said they would definitely be interested in having me – we got everything sorted out.
“MGM are happy enough if I have a coach over here that I can train with or I could be based in Marbella and they have another couple of gyms in Manchester or Scotland if I wanted to be a bit closer to home.
“Marbella sounds good because they’ve got so many boxers out there so there’d be plenty of sparring about and quality opposition to be in with. I’ll probably try a few different places and see where suits best.
“The sparring is the main thing I’m looking for.”
Joe Gallagher-trained Hosea Burton is the current British champion at light-heavyweight. The Mancunian, who stopped Myles Shinkwin on the undercard of Frampton-Quigg, defends his title against Frank Buglioni on September 24.
“With the amateur background I have, in a year or two I expect to be up there with them,” said Ward.
“If I had been a bit lighter I probably would have gone pro a bit earlier.
“There were things I wanted to do in the amateur game but they didn’t work out and I sort of fell out of love with boxing for a while.
“I have a wee boy now who’s one and a step-daughter too so providing for them is the main thing for me. With working and trying to train it was tough but I was still doing it. I was away on a few internationals with John Conlan (coach) and the Ulster team around Christmas – I went to Russia and had a couple of good wins.
“I caught myself on, I was thinking ‘why would I stop doing this?’ I love the sport too much. I’ve also thought about being a pro and now, at 26, I’m happy enough with what I’ve done as an amateur and I’m looking at the light-heavyweight division at British level and I think there’s an opening there.”
Meanwhile, Lenadoon cruiserweight Tommy McCarthy is a potential future Belfast opponent for Ward. McCarthy will have his final eliminator for a shot at the British title in Bolton against Matty Askin on October 22.
