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Tyrone McKenna confident he will defeat Anto Upton despite tactical change


Tyrone McKenna [15(6)-0-1] claims a tactical shake-up will be needed after his Frampton-Donaire undercard opponent changed.

However, considering he has four weeks to make the tweaks needed and the fact he knows replacement opponent Anthony Upton Jr since he first stepped through the ropes he is confident of victory.

Upton and original foe Philip Sutcliffe Jr bring different approaches to the ring and preparations for McKenna will need to change.

Crumlin BC graduate ‘Suco’ is a fighter that, despite being a skilled former EU bronze medalist, is most known for possessing freakish power in both hands, while the youngest of the Upton brothers is a renowned stylist.

In that regard, a change in approach is needed confessed the unbeaten Belfast man.

“It’s a fight I believe I’ll win. I’m looking forward to it. I have to change a few things tactically but I’ll be more than ready in four weeks’ time,” said McKenna.

The withdrawal of the Dubliner through a knee injury may have jeopardised McKenna’s spot on the TV end of the card, but the recruitment of another named foe means the tall southpaw still has a high-profile fight on the BT Sport bill with career-boosting potential.

In fact, such is the quality of the Ray Ginley-trained light welter, McKenna believes the fight will produce in terms of entertainment for the fans.

“It’s always a disappointment because we’ve been preparing for Phil Sutcliffe Jr for the last seven weeks but we’ve managed to find a really good replacement.”

“It’s another Irishman stepping up to the plate; another Belfast man and that’s very exciting for the fans. I’ve known Anthony Upton Jr since he started boxing and I know it’ll be an exciting fight.”

The former English champion was linked to McKenna when the Belfast man was looking for a late replacement on the Ryan Burnett v Zhanat Zhakiyanov card. However, flu prevented the Celtic mad fighter from accepting an offer.

Still Upton [17(6)-1(0)] has always been adamant he was willing to put friendship aside for 10 rounds to take on the BUI Celtic champion.

“I’ve been saying I’d like to fight Tyrone McKenna.”

“The opportunity came up to fight him on this card but I didn’t get asked, which was the right thing from my managers because they didn’t want to offer one of their fighters to fight another of their fighters on such short notice”

“If I hadn’t have got that illness I would have jumped at that fight with Tyrone McKenna, one hundred percent,” he told Irish-Boxing.com previously.

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

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