‘What better place?’ Kevin Cronin targets European title fight in Kerry
Kevin Cronin wants to end his ‘ridiculous’ wait to fight in the land of green and gold with a massive Munster blue belt bout.
The Kingdom favourite believes he shouldn’t have to wait any longer for a long-awaited professional homecoming and plans to come in style.
The Irish champion has an EBU European title fight on home soil is now firmly among his ambitions.
The Kerry warrior has built a reputation as one of the most exciting fighters on the Irish scene while travelling across the country and beyond in search of opportunities.
He has fought in the 3Arena, Madison Square Garden and Belfast, while also becoming Irish champion at the National Stadium.
Yet despite those achievements, the super middleweight is still waiting for the opportunity to walk into a professional ring in front of his home supporters.
And with the European title now firmly on his radar, the 2026 Irish champion believes there could be no better setting for that ambition to become reality.
“It’s ridiculous that I haven’t got my fight here in Kerry yet to be honest with you,” Cronin said when speaking to Irish-boxing.com.
“I’ve been on so many big cards. I’ve had so many Fight of the Nights, so many Fight of the Years that any fighter in the world would be getting their homecoming after and I haven’t got it.
“It’s a strange one.”
The Kingdom Warrior insists the appetite is there, both from supporters and venues, pointing to the facilities available across the county.
“You look at Killarney, you have the INEC, you have these stadiums. You look at Tralee, you have these football stadiums that would literally open their arms,” he explained.
The Michael Conlan-managed fighter revealed that there have already been attempts to bring professional boxing back to the county, with several venues expressing an interest.
“There was a promoter come down before and in the space of a day you had a few venues pretty much trying to get them to come in, including Fitzgerald Stadium,” he said.
Cronin’s frustration is understandable given the level of support he has received, particularly from Kerry, throughout his career.
“They’re not just following you because you’re a winner. They’re there win, lose or draw,” adds the fighter who has endured some frustrating defeats.
“We’re a million miles from everywhere down here, but no matter where I fight, the nearest trip we have is probably Dublin which is three and a half hours up the road. So it’s hard and it’s costly on people and it never goes unnoticed.”
Now Cronin wants to turn that support into the homecoming his career arguably demands.
“The Irish title and the European title right now are at the top of my priority list,” he revealed.
The first part of that equation will have to wait until after his September 26 assignment at the National Stadium, but Cronin is already looking beyond it.
He believes a European title fight would provide the perfect occasion to finally bring professional boxing back to Kerry.
“What better place to do it, you know? It’d be unbelievable,” he said.
Cronin knows there is still work to do before that dream becomes reality and remains focused on getting the job done in September.
But having finally removed the Irish title from his list of unfinished business, the Kingdom Warrior has his eyes firmly fixed on the next target.
“Hopefully I can just get the job done in September and make Kerry happen and just put the icing on the cake with a European title,” he said.
