OWEN Duffy and Owen O’Neill will face-off for the BUI Celtic super-welterweight title at Belfast’s Girdwood Community Hub on November 11, live on TG4.
O’Neill, from Belfast, and Cavan-native Duffy both had undercard slots on Eric Donovan’s recent EU title success at the Europa Hotel and they now step up to title level on the MHD Promotions show. O’Neill moved to 9-0 with a shut-out points win in September while Duffy, from Shercock, has two losses on his eight-fight card but he produced a career-best performance last time out to stop fellow Cavan fighter Dominic Donegan.
“The last fight (against Donegan) was more of a mental challenge,” he said.
“With my boxing ability I fully believed I had the capability to beat Dominic but my inactivity (he’d fought just once in over three years) played a part. There was ring-rust and nerves and the pressure of it being a local derby – neither of us wanted to be on the losing side… So to come through that was a big confidence boost and it’s an absolute blessing to get another fight so soon after it.
“I’m constantly training and feeling fresh and there’s no better time to get this fight. I’ve been asking for a title fight for a couple of years and to have it on TV again… I feel very lucky.
“It’s a big change for me. Every fighter had moments during the lockdown when they were thinking: ‘What am I doing? Do I give up or do I keep going?’ Consistency is key for me and, over Covid, I did wonder if I would get another opportunity to have a shot again.”
Even before Covid brought the world to a halt, Duffy admits his career was in danger of petering out after he was stopped by Eddie Tracey in Cork in July 2019. That loss came just four months after he’d been beaten for the first time in his career by Jake Best in England. Looking back, he can identify reasons for both losses.
“You win or you learn in life,” he said.
“I’ve had a lot of learning opportunities and I know now what I want and what I don’t want. I started off as a pro with Tony Davitt and I had a great start in the pro ranks.
“I got that fight in England (against Best) and I was told the weigh-in was the day before but when I got there I was told the weigh-in was on the day of the fight. I was after cutting weight all week and then I had to cut for another 24 hours and then fight. The energy wasn’t there.”
He bounced back with a win but took the Treacy fight without a full-time coach and decided to train himself. He put the hours in in the gym but didn’t realise that training on his own without an expert eye to correct him meant he picked up bad habits that were ruthlessly exposed in Cork.
“Barry O’Mara helped me as much as he could, he did pad work with me when he could, but his job had him all over the country,” Duffy explains.
“I trained three or four times a day and I thought: ‘Whatever Barry tells me to do, I’ll keep doing it on my own’ but I learned that you can hit the punch bag and throw one-twos but I wasn’t moving my head and every time I was throwing a jab I was dropping my hand.
“I learned that although you are training and you’re ticking the boxes, you can be ticking them wrong, you can be picking up bad habits.”
He went in against Tracey, a brawler, intending to use his boxing ability but, sure enough, he threw a jab, his hand dropped and his opponent countered with left hook that left him in a heap on the canvas.
From that lowest point he learned that, to get anywhere in an unforgiving sport, he needed to have a full-time coach and Martin ‘Frick’ McMahon – the amateur coach who had guided him to success at the Ulster and All-Ireland championships, the Celtic Box Cup and the Ringside World Championships in Kansas City – reached out.
McMahon (father of amateur star Christina) gave him a very honest assessment of where his career was going: backwards.
“He told me if I didn’t make some changes I would end up going down a journeyman route,” says Duffy.
“I agreed with him and got back with him and the next thing Covid came along and it was probably a blessing in disguise for me because it gave me two and-a-half years to work with ‘Frick’ and undo the bad habits.”
He returned with a fight in Spain and, although he was inactive for over a year after it, manager Mark Dunlop got him the fight with Donegan and that win is the launching pad for the next phase of his career.
Jamie Ritchie, a promising amateur fighter from Gilford ABC who unfortunately had to give up boxing after he suffered a life-threatening bleed on the brain, walked him to the ring that night
“I work a lot with kids in schools and stuff and I love giving back,” said Duffy.
“Jamie’s sister messaged me and told me about him and I went up and met him and I told him: ‘If I ever have a fight in Belfast, I want you to walk me in’. Two weeks’ later, Mark rang to say the fight with Dominic was on in Belfast and I rang Jamie and said: ‘I hope you’re ready for this ring walk!’ He was buzzing and I was delighted to give him that opportunity.”
With young Jamie cheering him on, Duffy came through that test against his county rival but O’Neill will be tougher. The Belfast ‘Operator’ is unbeaten and aggressive and he is working hard in training with Dee Walsh whose gym is still buzzing after Padraig McCrory’s recent IBO world light-heavyweight title win in Germany.
“He has a lot going for him,” said Duffy.
“He has no losses, his confidence will be very high, he was a high workrate, he’s a volume puncher with a different style than I’m used to. You’re guaranteed a war and it’s my biggest challenge yet.
“It’s in his backyard and he’ll have a big crowd supporting him but I fully believe I have the ability to beat him and I don’t want any ‘ifs or buts’ so my intention is to make sure it doesn’t go the distance and I get that win.”
Boxing Union of Ireland BUI Celtic Featherweight title: Colm Murphy (5-0) v Liam Gaynor (9-1)
Vacant Boxing Union of Ireland BUI Celtic Super Welterweight title: Owen O'Neill (9-0) Owen Duffy (6-2)
Super-featherweight: John Cooney (5-0) v Engel Gomez (8-14-1)
Super-flyweight: Conor Quinn (2-0-1) v Mikey Young (2-6-1)
Super-bantamweight: Ruadhan Farrell (3-1) v John Spencer (0-24)
Middleweight: Dominic Donegan (5-4-1) v Josh Cook (0-21-1)
Super-lightweight: David Ryan (debut) v Ezequiel Gregores (3-12)
Tickets available on Eventbrite or from the boxers.
