Brett McGinty outlines Celtic Title plan
Brett McGinty [6(1)-0] likes the look of the prettiest belt in Irish boxing and fancies winning one for himself.
The Donegal fighter is aware the BUI light middleweight Celtic title has been vacated by Owen O’Neill and says he wants to give the strap a new home.
It’s a belt fellow former underage standouts Paul Ryan and Edward Donovan have also set their sights on, suggesting there is scope to make one of the biggest Celtic title fights since the BUI introduced the belt to the scene.
However, McGinty’s focus is on the prize rather than any particular opponent at this stage.
Speaking ahead of his return to ring action in Dublin this weekend he said: “The Celtic title has been vacated and that is something that I would love to fight for. Who the opponent would be, I don’t know. That’s the kind of direction I want to push in now and I don’t want to hang around.”
The St Johnstone man started with a six-round bang when he debuted against Jan Ardon back in 2020, he was since afforded the time to do some learning on the job before returning to more competitive action last time out.
Alessandro Ruggierio came and gave the Ricky Hatton-trained fighter a go and, subsequently, a workout, both of which he enjoyed to the extent he called for more the same on the Jason Quigley topped ‘The Return’ card at the National Stadium this weekend.
“My last fight, he may have been a journeyman, but he came for a fight and it was a proper dust-up. It was the kind of fight I want to be in. He was well up for it. He didn’t just come to get paid. I had a right few down to watch me and support me and they enjoyed the fight.”
Patrik Fiala [5(3)-3(1)] provides the opposition on the Elite Sheer bill on Saturday. The Czech fighter may not be as strong as Ruggierio but comes to the South Circular Road with a winning record. Indeed, the fact he has three knockouts from five wins suggests he can punch and the fact he has operated as high as light heavyweight indicates he’ll prove durable.
“He has five wins and three KOs, so he has a decent, winning record.
“We don’t usually look too far into opponents until fight week. In this game, when you’re fighting so-called journeymen, the opponent can change. You can look at ten videos of a man and you’re told, all of a sudden, that you’re fighting someone else.
“We’ll get a good look at the opponent closer to the fight. He has a decent record. He has fought a few times at light-heavy, but they say he’s going to make middleweight. I’m ready to go. I’ve put a lot of work in during this camp and I’m very confident that I’ll be ready for what he brings,” comments McGinty before suggesting he wants to showcase improvements.
“I’ve put a lot of work in and I want to show that now. I was able to do that in my last fight and I want to be able to do that in this one.”
The fight is McGinty’s seventh since ditching the vest and he doesn’t want to wait around for number eight. The Oakleaf graduate, who is managed by bill topper Quigley, wants to get busy while stepping up.
“Activity is everything. Now that I’m stepping up the rounds – this is a six, my next could be eight – the fights may not be thick and fast, but I do want activity. I came out of the amateurs, where you could have had two fights in a weekend or four or five times in a month, to being so slow since I’ve turned over.”
