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Veteran Stephen Ormond believes “the best is yet to come”


Stephen Ormond [25(13)-5(1)] got back to winning ways on Friday night and is defiant that he still has a big part to play in the division.

Now 35 years of age and having suffered two consecutive defeats, Ormond bounced back with a dominant six-round 60-53 win over Nelson Altamirano in Manchester.

Happy with his performance and his preparations, Ormond is ready to jump straight back into big fights.

Looking back on his win which played out at the Middleton Arena, Ormond described how “I really enjoyed it.”

“It was great to get the rounds in but I had to change my gameplan because I nearly had him out of there, a bigger guy, but he came back so I just went on my toes and started boxing.”

“I showed that I could box too plus I’ve been out of the ring for a while so it was good to get the rust out.

“It was great because, when I was inside with him, the referee was letting us work and he wasn’t grabbing me much as he was the bigger guy so he was trying to work with me.”

“I could get the angle to get the bodyshots in and do different things with him.”

While his Central American opponent didn’t offer too much resistance, he served a purpose for Ormond. The Clondalkin workhorse noted how he needed an actual fight to fully sharpen the tools he has been honing the past six months.

‘The Rock’ outlined how “I’m always in the gym, but it just shows, you need the fights. Even though I’ve been in the gym all the time since my last fight, it showed there, not having the rounds, you need the rounds.”

“I’ve got those rounds in now and I’m going to sit down with my team and hope for something big, please God.”

Ormond, who had been set to fight on the Mick Conlan homecoming undercard at the end of the month, now wants a big fight – perhaps on the Carl Frampton Windsor Park undercard on August 18th.

The Dubliner stated that “Irish boxing is booming, UK boxing is booming, boxing is booming, I just want to be in the mix now, I want the big boys now.

“I feel the best is yet to come, I really do believe that.”

Photo Credit: British Boxers

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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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