Light-heavyweight: Steven Ward (debut) v Merdjidin Yuseinov (7-16-2)
STEVEN Ward predicts he could “start with a bang” when he makes his professional debut against Merdjidin Yuseinov tonight.
The Commonwealth Games silver-medallist and five-time Irish senior champion turned over to the paid ranks during the summer and has been training at Oliver’s Gym (run by Oliver Harrison) in Manchester. He says his hard work in training and with nutritionist Jordan Swaine has paid off and he’s looking forward to getting started at the Titanic Exhibition Centre.
“I think I could go either way,” he said.
“I could drip-feed in or I could start with a bang.
“I have 100 per cent faith in MGM, up to this point they’ve been brilliant. They’re the ones to be with at the minute and they’re proving it with the fights that they’ve put on.
“I’m happy enough to get my debut in Belfast on a show like this, so to be told that I’m on live is an added bonus.
“It’s an incentive to impress – if there’s any pressure it’s good pressure. I can wait, I’m really excited for it.”
He spends two-week blocks in Manchester and has benefited from training and sparring with super-middleweight contenders like Martin Murray and Rocky Fielding.
“The sparring is just unreal – you have Murray and Fielding there and a couple of top amateurs from the GB team,” Ward explained.
“The sparring is the main thing and I’m over there a couple of weeks at a time for training so I put the work in and then get home to my wife and two kids.”
He added: “I’ve made the weight easily. I thought it was do-able, but I thought it was going to be hard, but it’s been so much easier than I thought – I’m eating more and the weight’s coming off.
“I’m just eating right – it just shows you that if you get someone on board who knows what he’s talking about it makes things so much easier.”
