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Rebel teen Dan-Dan Keenan reinvigorated by injury lay-off

Rebel teen Dan-Dan Keenan [4(0)-0] s feeling better than ever ahead of his first fight of 2017 this weekend

The London-born fighter of Cork parentage had his hand broken in his previous contest on the George Groves v Eduard Gutknecht undercard in November.

However, the enforced time off has allowed welterweight Keenan to get over any and all niggles, and he returns to the ring on Saturday night at one-hundred percent full fitness – something any boxer will tell you is a rare occurrence

Ahead of his four round fight at the York Hall in London, Keenan told Irish-Boxing,com that he is feeling “brand new now.”

“I’m one hundred per cent fit for the first time in almost a year, so I’m excited to see how good I look on Saturday.”

“I spent about eight weeks off after my last fight. I came back into camp mid-January to prepare for this fight. I’m definitely ready after eight solid weeks of camp injury free.”

“Training’s going well, a lot better than my previous two camps so I’m happy with where I’m at. It’s probably been my best camp to be fair as I’m now fully fit and able to do things I wasn’t before.”

“I’ve got a lot of hard sparring in this time too with lots of top fighters.”

While he is still only 19 years old, the hugely popular ticket-seller wants to have some real progression in 2017. Keenan outlined that “the plan for 2017 is to remain undefeated and just keep on improving. If I can have a similar year to last year I’ll be happy.”

“This will be my last four rounder. I will be doing a six rounder in my next fight hopefully before Summer and then I hope an eight rounder before the end of the year so that I am in title contention for next year.

The opponent on Saturday will be Croatian journeyman Silvije Kebet [2(1)-13(6)]. Keenan has done his homework – although he knows that victory will be claimed should he fight to his best.

He described how “I watched a bit of footage of him in the gym with my trainer, studying what he does well and what he doesn’t do so well.”

“But I’m not looking too deep into it. I know – as long I perform to the level I know I can – I will have no problems and get another win under my belt.”

Jamie Conlan joins Gavan Casey and Joe O’Neill for Episode 3 of The Irish Boxing Show:

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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