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3 of Ireland’s brightest boxing prospects 2019

Throughout the ages, Ireland has produced some of the most talented and globally renowned boxers of all time. From former heavyweight legend Tom Sharkey to the outstanding featherweight champion Barry McGuigan, these fighters have enjoyed stellar careers having initially honed their skills on the Emerald Isle.

The current crop of young and hungry Irish fighters is also incredibly impressive, and if you follow boxing tips and predictions at sites like www.betandskill.com often you will regularly find a plethora of young Irish boxers who are being tipped to do well and challenge for major titles in the future.

In this post, we’ll look at three of the brightest prospects from Ireland and ask what the remainder of 2019 (and beyond) is likely to have in store for them:

  1. Michael Conlan, Featherweight

We start with the 27-year old Michael Conlan, who despite being in the embryonic stage of his professional career is considered by many to be the best prospect ever to emerge from Ireland.

This ultra-talented featherweight has already won all 11 of his fights to date, whilst he also claimed the vacant World Boxing Organisation Inter-Continental Featherweight title against Jason Cunningham in a one-sided clash in December of last year.

He comfortably defended his title against the talented Ruben Garcia Hernandez in March, and he is scheduled to take on Vladimir Nikitin in August. A world title challenge could well be on the way at some point in 2020 too, as the former Olympic bronze medalist looks to truly make his mark as an elite professional fighter.

Having being robbed of an additional medal at the Rio Olympic Games too, Conlan is incredibly hungry to succeed and he could well be placed to make a definite breakthrough in the next 12 months.

  1. Jason Quigley, Middleweight

 

Next up is Jason Quigley, who despite going about his business quietly in recent years is about to become a strong title contender at world level as 2019 draws to a close.Jason Quigley v Freddy Hernandez

A former World silver medallist in the amateur ranks, Quigley has won all 16 of his professional fights with an impressive total of 12 knockouts. This betrays his immense punching power, whilst the fact that his career is being managed by Golden Boy Promotions and former middleweight legend Oscar De La Hoya tells you everything you need to know.

Quigley has produced some devastating performances stateside, whilst his recent technical KO of the formidable Mathias Eklund represented a real standout performance.

Make no mistake; he’s in prime position to compete for a world title in the next 18 months, at which point we could well see him fight regularly in his native Ireland.

He is next scheduled to take to the ring against Tureano Johnson on July 18th.

  1. Ryan Burnett

Whilst the Ulsterman first made his Bantamweight debut in 2013, he really burst onto the scene two years ago when he claimed the IBF title against the much-favoured Lee Haskins in Belfast.

Burnett return from injury with victory in the Ulster Hall last Friday
Burnett return from injury with victory in the Ulster Hall last Friday

Incredibly, he unified the title just four months later at the SSE Arena, claiming a unanimous decision against the established WBA champion Zhanat Zhakiyanov.

One more defence followed in 2018, before Burnett was surprisingly stopped by the veteran fighter Nonito Donaire in Glasgow last November. This came as a huge setback, with Burnett struggling to cope with the experience and hand speed of his opponent. Still, Burnett returned to winning ways with the stoppage of Jelbirt Gomera in May, and he retains the youth, talent and hunger to claim another world title in the near feature.

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Jonny Stapleton

Irish-boxing.com contributor for 15 years and editor for the past decade. Have been covering boxing for over 16 years and writing about sports for a living for over 20 years. Former Assistant Sports editor for the Gazette News Paper Group and former Tallaght Voice Sports Editor. Have had work published in publications around the world when working as a freelance journalist. Also co-founder of Junior Sports Media and Leinster Rugby PRO of the Year winner. email: editoririshboxing@gmail.com

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