Cummings should prove he is one of Ireland’s best first says Collins
Conrad Cummings [10(4)-0-1] should prove he is one of the best in middleweights in Ireland before being labelled as one of Britain’s best suggests Paschal Collins.
The Celtic Warrior gym boss seemed to take exception to claims from Barry McGuigan that, Eubank Jr aside, Cummings was the best middleweight in Britain, and indicated that his two 160lbs fighters would be more than willing to test the level the popular Coalisland puncher is at.
Collins claims both Dubliner Luke Keeler [10(5)-2(1)] and Corkonian Spike O’Sullivan [23(15)-2(1)] would be more than willing to face the Cyclone star and said the Keeler-Cummings clash was a fight they tried to make in the past.
“They said he is the best middleweight in Britain, but he wouldn’t be ready for Eubank Jr. It’s interesting Spike or Luke were not mentioned,” Collins told Irish-Boxing.com.
“I was thinking straight away, what about Spike or Luke? Why not fight them and see if you’re one of the best middleweights in Ireland? We would be more than open to that fight, but no one has called us. He has an opponent so you have to think they don’t fancy that fight,” he continued.
“We tried to make Luke versus Cummings before on a show in Belfast. We put it out there but they didn’t bother with it. I think it’s a fight the fans would like, Luke has fought on Sky and in a Fight of the Year contender with Doran, but I don’t think they would take the risk.”
Cummings does have a test coming up when he fights Ronny Mittag [28(14)-2(0)-1] for the IBF Inter-Continental title on George Groves v Eduard Gutknecht undercard at the Wembley Arena on Friday November 18th.
That particular IBF trinket should secure a top 15 ranking for the Shane McGuigan-trained fighter and is the same belt Eamonn O’Kane used to secure a World title eliminator.
It has to be said that the IBF may have pushed for Mittag as an opponent for the clash and may not have sanctioned a clash with either ‘Spike’ or Keeler.
However, both match-ups are certainly fan-friendly fights that Irish fight fans would be more than open to seeing in the future.