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Craig McCarthy targeting Waterford title fight after recovering from horror injury


Waterford super middleweight Craig McCarthy [3(0)-0] returns to the ring on July 7th after recovering from a serious injury suffered in his last fight.

It has emerged that, back in February at the WIT Arena, McCarthy had his jaw broken by Teodor Lozanov in the second round of the headline fight of the inaugural Ring Kings promotion.

While he couldn’t, as the old boxing cliché goes, bite down on the gum-shield, ‘Built 2 Last’ did dig deep and ground out a 58-57 win in his first six rounder.

Details of the injury have come out recently, and McCarthy explained to Irish-Boxing.com that “I didn’t want to announce it publically.”

“I had to get my teeth taken out, they put in six screws, the whole lot.”

“I knew straight away, the gumshield came flying out and I couldn’t put it back in. I knew something wasn’t right!”

“I broke it in the second round, that shows a lot, that I could do the six rounds.”

“My fight before that, I got a headbutt, split open, and had to get six stitches. I’ve been in the wars!”

“I’ve had three fights and I’ve been mangled. It’s the hurt business – but that’s going to stop now, all those silly things.”

On the JB Promotions ‘The Beginning’ card at the National Stadium in Dublin, McCarthy will take a step up in class facing former BBBoC Central Area champion Darryl Sharp [5(0)-33(1)].

The notably game Manchester boxer may not have an attractive looking record but is hugely respected in the game, regularly coming in at late notice and fighting to win, often taking rounds from top prospects, and being unlucky on the cards on more than one occasion.

A tough test, McCarthy believes that a win in two months time could act as a gateway to big things

The 31-year-old is looking to move quickly in the game and a title fight, perhaps the BUI Celtic belt, is on his near-immediate radar.

“It could be [a gateway] and, not to give anything away, but wouldn’t it be great to have a title fight in Waterford?” he posed

“I’m here to takeover. I am absolutely mad to get back there, as is the promoter as I sell all the tickets. That’s the aim. My aim is to get through this fight and move on, with style.”

“I have the Waterford crowd behind me and they’re amazing, I love the crowd, the crowd is everything, especially in this game.”

Photo Credit: Ricardo Guglielminotti – The Fighting Irish (@ThefIrish)

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Joe O'Neill

Reporting on Irish boxing the past five years. Work has appeared on irish-boxing.com, Boxing News, the42.ie, and local and national media. Provide live ringside updates, occasional interviews, and special features on the future of Irish boxing. email: joneill6@tcd.ie

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