CAOIMHIN Agyarko says Michael Conlan deserves another crack at Leigh Wood but doubts if the Nottingham fighter – who dramatically pulled victory from the jaws of defeat in Saturday night’s Fight of the Year contender – will want to face the Belfast man again.
Exhausted Conlan was ahead on all three scorecards when Wood landed a concussive right hook midway through the 12th round at Nottingham Arena. Knocked out Conlan fell backwards through the ropes and out of the ring. Thankfully he made a complete recovery and has said he wants to face Wood again.
“Mick just got caught,” said Agyarko who was at ringside for the fight.
“It was unfortunate because for me he was winning the fight. I’d love to see a rematch but I’m not too sure if Leigh Wood would want a rematch.
“Mick deserves one after that performance and I’d love to see them do it again.”
Agyarko’s performance against negative, southpaw Juan Carlos Rubio has come in for some harsh criticism from former champions Tony Bellew and Carl Froch.
In his 11th fight, Agyarko defended his WBA International middleweight title as chief-support to Conlan in Nottingham Arena and he threw everything he could at the Mexican who simply did not want to engage. Agyarko banked 10 valuable rounds and some vital experience on the way to a shut-out win on two of the judges’ cards (the other gave Rubio two rounds).
“I saw they made a couple of negative comments,” said Agyarko.
“But I don’t really care, Rubio didn’t really want to engage and he just made it tough for me. He was the first southpaw I’ve boxed as a pro and he was a lot more experienced than me so it’s another box ticked off and another good win.”
Agyarko did load up on his shots, particularly in the second half of the fight, and did land some powerful left hooks but long-levered southpaw Rubio was able to go the distance.
Agyarko intends to take some time off to let his hands recover and then says he’ll go “back to the drawing board”. He hopes to top the bill at the SSE Arena in Belfast before the end of this year.
IN JUST his second professional fight, Colm Murphy tops the bill at the Europa Hotel on Saturday night determined to impress against fellow prospect Sam Melville (1-2).
Murphy is the headline act on a card that features the debut of John Breen’s latest prospect Ruadhan Farrell as well as Jason Carty.
‘Posh Boy’ says he is in great shape and the Dee Walsh-trained lightweight predicts that his clash with Melville will be “worthy of being the main event”.
“I’ve had a few dates fall through since my last fight so I’ve just stayed in camp the whole time, training hard and it’s all going to pay off, I’m on fight week now and it looks like we have a fight with Melville,” said the Quantity Surveying graduate.
“It’s an interesting match-up and my friend over in Liverpool beat Melville when they were amateurs so I’ve got a few clips of that fight. Melville has some amateur pedigree behind him and he’s no journeyman so it’s going to be an interesting step up for me and it’s a fight worthy of being the main event in my eyes.
“I’ve been the main event at the Ulster Hall when I was an amateur and now it’s the Europa and it’s six rounds, not three rounds… No pressure.”
Former St George’s ABC star Murphy loves to train and predicts fans will see a “different Colm Murphy” in the ring on Saturday night.
“Over the last few weeks we’ve been working on the gameplan and my strength and adding different elements to my game,” he said.
“Dee has added so much to my game and you’re going to see a different Colm Murphy – a new one, a better one.”
Murphy is currently studying a Masters Degree in Construction Law at the minute and is considering parking his education to concentrate on his boxing career. A good performance on Saturday night will make that decision easier to reach.
“It’s been hard this year with going pro,” he said.
“I’ve been really putting the extra in and I can leave the course after a year so I might do that because I want to go with the boxing. If I win on Saturday night there are going to be big opportunities for me out there and I’m going to grab them all once I win.”
A limited number of tickets are available for the show ‘MHD XXI’ on Saturday night. Call 07712473905 for details.
WARRIOR Tyrone McKenna will battle it out with former WBA super-lightweight champion Regis Prograis in Dubai on Saturday night.
Prograis lost a unification scrap to Josh Taylor last year and, now that Taylor has moved up to lightweight, but fighters will see Saturday’s duel as the gateway to world title prospects. The American will go in as favourite at the weekend but he will certainly won’t have it all his own way against ‘Mighty Celt’ McKenna.
McKenna’s coach Pete Taylor admits it’s a “tough task against Prograis” but sees opportunities for his man if he can come through the early rounds.
“Now Josh Taylor has moved up, I’d say Prograis is probably number one in the world but these are the fights you want, these are the stages you want to be on and if Tyrone wins the sky is the limit so it’s a great opportunity for him,” said Taylor who guided Gary Cully to a career-best win in Nottingham last Saturday night.
The vastly-experienced Dublin-based coach says he will let McKenna “off the leash” on Saturday night. McKenna will have advantages in height and reach but – unless he intends to spring a surprise – he has already said that he intends to go to war.
“Tyrone is at least four or five inches bigger than Prograis but he just wants to get in there and have a fight,” said Taylor.
“You can’t change him, that’s the way he wants to fight and all I have to do is get him into shape and then let him off the leash so it should be entertaining. The first round rounds will be tough for Tyrone but I think you’ll see him coming on strong in the middle rounds and then we’ll see. He’ll be a big underdog for the fight but Tyrone will do what he can do to the best of his ability.”
