Amateur stars secure pro debut date
Debut dates have been set for former amateur stars Steven Donnelly and Sean McComb.
The Antrim duo will both box on the Carl Frampton v Luke Jackson undercard at Windsor Park on Saturday August 18th.
McComb and Donnelly both turned pro in the wake of the 2018 Commonwealth Games at the Gold Coast, signing with management outfit Mack The Knife Global.
Ballymena light middleweight Donnelly won a bronze at these championships to go with the bronze he won at the Glasgow Games in 2014.
In between, Donnelly was Ireland’s best-performing Olympian at the Rio Games in 2016 and has finally joined team-mates Mick Conlan, Davey Oliver Joyce, Katie Taylor, and Paddy Barnes – who fights for a world title versus Cristofer Rosales on the same Windsor bill – in the pros.
‘The Donn’ has linked up with Belfast trainer Ray Ginley for his assault on the pros and, at 29 years of age, he has called to be fast-tracked.
Belfast’s McComb, a bronze medallist at the 2015 European Games, was the men’s team captain for the Commonwealth Games but lost another close decision to English rival Luke McCormack before the medal rounds – the same opponent who denied him a European bronze last year.
Turning pro, ‘The Public Nuisance’ linked up with trainer Danny Vaughan in Glasgow, joining Barnes and Tyrone McKenna in the camp.
Initially due to debut on the Mick Conlan Homecoming undercard last month, paperwork issues saw McComb’s fight fall through at the last minute and the Turf Lodge lightweight will now make his pro bow here.
The debutants will join Tyson Fury, Barnes, Steven Ward v Stevie Collins, Conrad Cummings, Marco McCullough, Luke Keeler, Lewis Crocker, Willie Hutchinson, and Sam Maxwell on the card at the football stadium where Frampton will defend his WBO interim title versus Australia’s Jackson in the headline fight.
