Cool, Calm, Collected Connor Coyle ready to make statement in televised PBC fight

Tomorrow night in Florida Connor Coyle [6(2)-0] will make his U.S. TV debut, and the Derry middleweight is as cool as ever.

A pro only a year, the Commonwealth Games bronze medalist has been hugely impressive thus far and secured himself a slot on a Premier Boxing Champions card following an eye-catching win on a RingTV.com-streamed show during the Summer

Coyle features on a Tuesday night card at the Coliseum in St Petersburg, featuring on the televised portion of a FireFist bill shown live nationwide via Fox Sports 1.

The St Joseph’s 27 year old faces Kansas prospect Calvin Metcalfe [6(1)-0] over eight rounds in the opening TV bout on the card which is headlined by former two-weight world champion Devon Alexander against Walter Castillo..

For ‘The Kid’ Coyle, the fight is a chance to impress some big names in boxing. Highly rated by coach Jim McLaughlin, the man behind Winky Wright, he is keen to make waves in America.

Coyle told Irish-Boxing.com that “this is a big opportunity now here in the States as it’s on a national sports channel, great exposure. Not only the TV people, but there will be big names in the crowd watching also, the likes of Al Haymon just to name one.”

“The camp has gone really well, no interruptions, injuries, anything. Perfect camp! Full eight weeks of hard training and six great weeks of sparring,” added the laidback Foylesider.

While he will be looking to showcase his skills, the fight is not a showcase bout. Coyle has been matched hard and, in Metcalfe, he faces a hungry 22 year old who also was a former top-amateur.

Metcalfe’s amateur career saw him win three consecutive Kansas Golden Gloves titles and compete on the national level. As a pro he scored a big win in his most recent bout in August when, fighting out of the away corner, dropped and dominated fellow unbeaten prospect Raymond Handson over six rounds.

Coyle is not worried by the early jump in class and promised that “I will treat this fight like I treat all of my fights, like a title fight.”

“I won’t let up in any round, I want to win every round. I haven’t lost a round in my professional career yet.”

“I will be slowing this boy down with hard body shots as he’s very fit and will just keep coming.”

“I don’t know much about him, other than he’s also 6-0 and is very strong and fit. I have a plan for this boy, and I will work on that from the first bell, as I always start, calm and cool, wait for the right time, and chop him down.”

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