World Boxing Council International Silver Super-middleweight title: Padraig McCrory (12-0) v Celso Neves (8-1-1) (tonight, Ulster Hall, live on iFL TV)
PADRAIG McCrory dreamt of topping a bill on day and he gets his chance tonight when he defends his WBC International super-middleweight title against tricky Spaniard Celso Neves.
With the memory of his barn-burning stoppage win against Russian Sergei Gorokhov at Feile still fresh in his memory, McCrory says he is ready to get the Ulster Hall bear pit – the traditional home of Belfast boxing - rocking once again.
“I don’t expect Neves to come the way Gorokhov came,” said ‘The Hammer’.
“He might come out and surprise us but he looks like more of a boxer and a slick fighter than an out-and-out aggression fighter.
“I think there might be a stage in the fight where he’ll feel he has to start taking risks and I have to be ready for that. He doesn’t have many knockouts and he’s not known to be a big puncher but he is a solid puncher so I have to be ready for anything.
“We’ve built a plan that we’re going to work towards and I think the gameplan is right for this fight. There will be stages where he is going to try and push the pace but, for me, it’s about dictating the centre of the ring.”
McCrory will find Neves difficult to pin down, particularly early on, but he says his preparation has been excellent and he’ll fancy his chances of stopping the Spaniard in the second half of the fight.
“I think this is the next step for me,” he said.
“I’m defending my belt against a decent fighter and I’m really looking forward to it.
“I try to take it one fight at a time but I do think I have the ability to push on towards European and titles as further.
“Before previous bills I would have phoned Jamie (Conlan) and tortured him to get up the card because I enjoy the buzz, I enjoy being involved when there’s a packed house. I always want to be on that stage and now I think I have earned that.
“At previous bills Jamie was like: ‘Do you want to be on early?’ I always said ‘no’ because I wanted to be on as late as possible – I would love to be the main event every time. Obviously you have to build up to it but I enjoy fighting in front of the fans, I enjoy the atmosphere and I think it gives me an extra edge.
“When I fought at the Feile it was probably 50 per cent full and I thought: ‘Imagine I was Mick Conlan fighting in front of a packed house?’ That’s the stuff I dream of. I’ll just keep grinding, I think I’m riding a wave and let’s where it goes.”
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World Boxing Organisation European Welterweight title: Lewis Crocker (13-0) v Artem Haroyan (17-2-1)
LEWIS Crocker burst onto the pro scene with a string of devastating knockouts, some of them so early he was struggling to get minutes under his belt never mind rounds.
After a hand injury ‘Crock’ settled down into a run of five straight points wins before he burst back onto the KO with a career-best performance after Louis Greene to win the belt he defends for the second time tonight. His first defence, in March against experienced Denis Ilbay, was another step up the ladder for the talented Dee Walsh-trained fighter.
“It went the 10 rounds and I knew he was durable for 10 rounds as well,” said Crocker.
“I had my fitness for the second half of the fight as much as the first half and that was a big confidence boost for me.
“I dropped him as well and I know he has been in with tough opponents who didn’t hurt him as much as I did so it was definitely a confidence booster.
“Every fight at this level is going to be a step up and each opponent brings different attributes. I’m expecting a tough test and I feel that there are people putting more pressure on (to impress) but I’m not taking that pressure at all.
“I’m in there to do one job – win – and it there’s no fans or 100,000 fans it’ll be the same job.”
One of his earliest memories of boxing at the Ulster Hall was going to watch Carl Frampton’s legendary amateur tear-up against Ryan Lindberg at the Bedford Street venue. With Frampton now retired, Crocker could move up to become the box office draw in Belfast.
“It doesn’t matter what void is there after Frampton, nothing should be stopping you from reaching your end goal and mine is to be victorious on Friday,” he said.
“Obviously the opportunity is there and the city will get behind someone who wants to entertain and I believe I can bring that.
“Belfast is going to be active in 2022 – look at the number of fighters in Belfast now. Myself, Mick (Conlan), (James) Tennyson, Pody (McCrory), Caomhin (Agyarko)… There are so many boxers who could all headline a show and it’s great to be a part of it.”
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Lightweight: Sean McComb (12-1) v Ronnie Clark (21-5-2)
THE meeting of ambitious Sean McComb and experienced Scot Ronnie Clark, who has already tangled with Anthony Cacace and beaten British and Commonwealth super-featherweight champion Zelfa Barrett, is a fight of the night contender.
A win tonight will make up the ground McComb lost when beaten by Gavin Gwynne in February and since then he has out-pointed Vicente Martin Rodriguez at Feile in the Falls Park.
“Honestly, I just feel now that I’ve figured out my style,” he said.
“I know exactly what I’m doing, I’m not going in and just winging it in the ring. I’m going in with a gameplan and I know exactly what I need to do.”
He says his switch from training with Danny Vaughan in Scotland to Pete Taylor’s Dublin gym has paid off. McComb knew the astute Taylor from his amateur days and says he has come up with a gameplan to out-fox Clark tonight.
“We all know Ronnie’s character and his attitude to boxing,” said McComb.
“He has a great winning record. He’s had a draw with Ryan Walsh, he beat Zelfa Barrett, he had a great fight with Cacace and he just fought Sultan Zaurbek. I know what he’s coming to do, he’s right there, he’s a tricky operator and he’s very shrewd in how he does things.
“I’m going to have to be fully on it. Myself and Pete have worked on things, we know what he does and I’m sure they know what I do. It’s going to be a great fight on the night.”
Undercard:
Super-welterweight: Owen O’Neill (7-0) v Jordan Latimer (2-2)
Lightweight: James McGivern (3-0) v Jonny Phillips (5-8)
Super-welterweight: Paul Ryan (1-0) v Damian Esquisabel (4-6)
Lightweight: Sean Gerard Duffy (4-0) v Ed Harrison (2-9)
Lightweight: Cain Lewis (1-0) v Stefan Nicolae (3-27-2)
Middleweight: Fearghus Quinn (3-0) v TBC
Super-welterweight: Daniel Keating (4-0) v Jack Ewbank (4-1)
