TICKETS sold out in three hours for Friday’s fight night in Galway where local favourite Kieran Molloy will face-off against Columbian opponent Fernando Mosquera.
A packed house will cheer on Conlan Boxing’s ambitious up-and-coming star who is the headline act on a card that includes Jamie Morrissey versus Kevin Cronin for the Irish light-heavyweight crown.
Oughterard-born and now based in Loughborough, England, Molloy is intense and determined to get to the very top. He has power and speed and alongside his physical attributes he has a natural boxing IQ that means he can adapt quickly when he’s in the firing line.
“People haven’t really picked up on that yet,” said Jamie Conlan.
“It’s not necessarily about winning, it’s how he goes about his work. If he makes a small mistake in the ring he fixes it and he’s able to capitalise on the opening that he sees. He can make small adjustments.
“In his last fight the guy was throwing a good over-hand right and he did graze him and clip Kieran on the chin with it. But the next time he tried it Kieran countered it with a bodyshot.
“He is able to make all these wee adjustments during a fight and he’s brilliant with his feet and his punching power is very clear and evident. But for me it’s his boxing IQ and his ring generalship and how he’s able to assess an opponent and work him out very quickly and then focus in on their flaws.”
Molloy moved to 4-0 in his first year as a professional by beating Alexander Zeledon at the SSE Arena in December. Zeledon quit on his stool at the end of the second which was a sensible, if not warrior-like decision, because if he had soldiered on he wouldn’t have made it to the end of the third round.
Molloy was in control but despite the win he was disappointed afterwards. He demands a lot of himself and has been sparring with Russia’s European welterweight champion David Avanesyan and Sergio Garcia in preparation for Friday night’s homecoming.
“He is learning every day and he’s got a great attitude as well,” said Conlan.
“He’s very driven, every fight is a world title fight for him and he prepares for every fight like it’s a world title fight and then it’s about perfecting it in the ring. He’ll tell you things he’s going to try and when it comes to the fight he’s actually able to do them and to me that shows his bit of class.
“He knows what he wants and he’s out to get it. He took himself away from his home comforts and switched to new surroundings in England and he tried different trainers until he figured out what worked best for him and he has just moved on from there.
“Everything is thought through. He doesn’t just dive straight in, nothing is done willy-nilly – there’s intent in everything. He wants to win and to be the best and he has that killer-instinct in him that you need to get there.”
Friday night’s line-up at Leisureland, Salthill:
Welterweight: Kieran Molloy (4-0) v Fernando Mosquera (6-3)
BUI Ireland National Light-heavyweight title: Jamie Morrissey (5-0) v Kevin Cronin (5-1)
Super-featherweight: John Cooney (7-0) v Sandeep Singh Bhatti (8-7)
Featherweight: Kurt Walker (5-0) v Jonatas Rodrigo (4-2)
Welterweight: Danny Keating (6-0) v Greyvin Mendoza (7-2-1)
Welterweight: David Ryan (2-0) v Berman Sanchez (30-42-4)
Super-lightweight: Tiernan Bradley (6-0) v Adrian Orban (6-1)
Super-bantamweight: Gerard Hughes (2-0) v Francisco Rodriguez (1-11)
ANTO Cacace will defend his IBO super-featherweight title against Poland’s Damian Wrzesinski on May 27. Wrzesinski is 26-2-2 and has fought almost exclusively in his native country up to now.
He has been calling Cacace out on social media and it seems he will get his wish and it remains to be seen how he handles the Belfast stylist’s power if and when he meets him at the SSE Arena.
Meanwhile, Dublin’s Pierce O'Leary (11-0) will take on Alin Florin Ciorceri (17-3) for the WBC International Super-Lightweight title on the undercard of Conlan-Lopez.
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PODY McCRORY’S on-off-on saga with Brazilian contender Falcao Yamaguchi is definitely OFF. ‘Guchi’ has signed to fight ‘regular’ super-middleweight WBA champion Dave Morrell and Belfast’s McCrory has been pencilled in to fight the winner.
McCrory will be in action on May 27 on the undercard of Conlan-Lopez at the SSE Arena. His opponent has yet to be confirmed but it is expected that a WBA ranking title will be on the line.
There is speculation that McCrory could take on Donegal’s Jason Quigley in the future. Quigley has a world title eliminator of his own to look forward to. The Ballybofey former world middleweight title contender will take on big-hitting and unbeaten Puerto Rican Edgar Berlanga (20-0 with 16 KOs) at Madison Square Garden, New York on June 24.
Berlanga hasn’t fought since June last year. The Brooklyn-based ‘Chosen One’ who was banned for six months by the New York State Athletic Commission after he appeared to try to bite opponent Roamer Alexis Angulo.
JOE Joyce has the option to face Zhilei Zhang again despite being battered by the Chinese heavyweight in London on Saturday night. Joyce was hammered with a succession of ramrod straight left hands from his southpaw opponent and was eventually stopped in the sixth with his right eye closed due to swelling.
Promoter George Warren says Joyce has a rematch clause and must decide whether to face Zhang again immediately or not.
“That rematch clause, the right to invoke it is Joe’s,” said Warren.
“It’s not Queensberry’s, it’s his if he wants to do it and we’ll support it and make it happen. If he wants to do a rematch, not only is he deserving of it but we’ll make sure it happens. We’ll catch up with him in the next couple of weeks and see what he wants to do.”
As for Zhang, Joyce proved unable to get off the line and avoid the accurate straight shots the Chinese heavyweight peppered him with.
“He came and he sort of conquered, didn’t he?” said Warren.
“He boxed really well. I think Joe struggled with his southpaw stance and got caught too many times. “We all know that Joe takes shots that other heavyweights don’t, but what he’s always been able to get away with to a certain degree is his chin, his stamina, and the fact that he ends up getting on top of these guys.”
