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Tyrone McCullagh v TJ Doheny on Mick Conlan Féile undercard?

Tyrone McCullagh  believes Mick Conlan’s  Féile an Phobail fight night would prove the ideal setting for an all Irish clash with TJ Doheny.

Belfast’s Conlan looks set to be handed the chance to secure some form of Rio revenge over Vladimir Nikitin when he brings boxing to his doorstep as part of the Falls Park-hosted festival in early August – and McCullagh thinks he can provide the perfect chief support.

READ: Féile an Phobail confirm Mick Conlan card

West Belfast fighters Padraig McCrory, Paddy Gallagher, Tyrone McKenna, and Sean McComb all seem likely for the undercard – while Conlan is keen on having all corners of the city represented – but ‘White Chocolate feels the ESPN broadcast fight night is the ideal platform for a clash between himself and the former world champion.

McCullagh told the Derry Journal that “there’s a big show coming up in August and it would be a perfect fight for that if he wants it. But, again, that’s up to him.”

“He might have his sights set on other things or maybe he’s taking a bit of a rest after his world title defeat.”

“It would make sense [to have it in Ireland], it’s two Irish guys. It would be stupid to have it anywhere else but Ireland and I would love the fight. It would be one of the biggest local fights there’s been so why not?”

The Derry southpaw has been calling for the fight for some time and was very vocal about wanting to face the Portlaoise man since he won the IBF super bantamweight world title in the Summer of 2018.

However, Doheny wasn’t too receptive to the call outs and had bigger fish to fry.

READ: TJ Doheny slams “piss-ant” Tyrone McCullagh over call outs

‘The Power’ was on a unification mission and just missed out on becoming Ireland’s fourth ever unified champion after an enthralling bout with now IBF and WBA world champion Danny Roman live on DAZN in April.

Directly after the fight the wider public were hailing the bout as rematch worthy and Doheny would certainly be keen. However, the Mexican-American has undisputed goals, targeting WBC champ Rey Vargas as well as having WBA mandatory Murodjon Akhmadaliev to deal with.

The Sydney-based Irish fighter might see McCullagh as a good return option and may like the idea of fighting on home soil for the first time, but speaking directly after his first career defeat was suggesting he wanted to stay at world level.

It also has to be noted that Doheny, although a managerial stablemate of McCullagh, is signed to Matchroom and Eddie Hearn may not want one of his fighters appearing on a rival promoter’s card and ESPN considering his link up with DAZN and venture into the U.S. scene.

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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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