“Age is nothing to me” – Evergreen Ormond ready for World title assault
Stephen Ormond [23(12)-3(1)] kicks off his 2017 tomorrow night in Belfast, and the Dublin lightweight is promising a good year.
The Celtic Warriors Gym man boxes in a keep-busy bout on the inaugural Ginley Promotions bill at the Devenish Centre. It’s a small-hall start to the year, but Ormond is expecting to feature in big fights once the division opens up, and he already has a pathway in mind.
His opponent tomorrow night will be Nicaraguan Norwin Galo [7(5)-7(4)], and a one-sided affair is expected. Ormond noted that activity is the name of the game as he bides his time for an opportunity.
“It’s all just about getting a fight,” he told Irish-Boxing.com. “I’m just waiting now for the big one, I’ll get through this at the weekend, and there’s big plans for me. It’s good because it will keep the momentum going for me.”
These plans could be the WBO lightweight title should Terry Flanagan overcome the challenge of Petr Petrov next month. However, it wont be a rematch with the Manchester fighter against whom he was disqualified in a world title final eliminator back in 2015.
Ormond revealed that “I’m going away in two weeks to spar Terry Flanagan. He wants me to prepare him for a guy he’s fighting who has my style. He said he is moving weight after, so I’m going to go for that belt after.”
“I’m over it now [the Flanagan fight], it’s just one of those things that never happened. Next time I’ll be ready.”
“I don’t care about rankings, I don’t care about BoxRec, I don’t care about any of that, I’ll fight anyone. I’m going to go for the WBO, but it could be whatever.”
“We were offered a fight in February, an eliminator for a world title, not sure what organisation, on the Eubank show, a Mexican guy, but it was too early, I wasn’t back in training.”
While, on paper, it looks like the Clondalkin boxer is approaching the twilight of his career, Ormond feels better than ever.
“I’m 34 this year, but I’m sharp and I’m fit, because I never took much punishment and I’m always in the gym. Age is nothing to me, when I was coming to 30 I was panicking, but now I’m like ‘f*ck it!'” he laughed.
“It’s going to be a good year, I’ve got my head in the game. no breaks, straight through.”
Photo Credit: Ricardo Guglielminotti – The Fighting Irish (@ThefIrish)
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Also featuring on the first Ginley Promotions card are Alfredo Meli, Ciaran McVarnock, Sean Turner, Anto Upton, Ian Tims, and Tyrone McCullagh.
Tickets for Dust Up at The Devenish cost £35 (unreserved) and £65 (ringside) and are available from the boxers on the bill or promoter Mark Ginley.
