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Dennis Hogan targets more than just victory in HIGH STAKES domestic bout

Dennis Hogan [28(7)-4(2)-1] believes he needs more than just a win in a pivotal midweek fight.

‘The Hurricane’ steps down from world level to compete against Tommy Browne [42(18)-7-2] at Australian domestic level on the undercard of recent foe Tim Tszyu’s clash with Takeshi Inoue Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena tomorrow morning [Irish time].

Considering the Kildare fighter is a 36-year-old on a three-fight losing run, victory in the high stakes nontitle fight is essential. Lose to his fellow two-time world title challenger and the DDP Sports fighter’s hopes of returning to the top end of the sport will evaporate entirely.

However, the popular competitor doesn’t believe victory will prove enough and has a different barometer when it comes to weighing up what path he will take in the future.

The light middleweight , who lost a controversial points verdict against Mexico’s Jamie Munguia and was stopped by Jermall Charlo in back to back world title fights before losing to rising Aussie star Tszyu, says he has to produce a high-end performance.

It’s not that Hogan believes he has to win over the crowd, rather he wants to prove to himself that he still has it.

“It’s detrimental for either of us to have a loss in this fight,” Hogan told Aus-Boxing.

“I’m very well aware of that. This is to see where I’m at, to see if I can get to my best, like I’ve been at when I was at my best.

“And if I can’t do that, you know, I’ll have to ask some serious questions about my career.

“I always fight for the fans so I love them in that way, and I always put in,” he added.

“But this is for me. This is to see if it’s worth my while. I know that I have the ability. I’ve done stuff in the ring throughout my boxing career which I know would win me fights, world championship fights. I have to see if I can execute all those things together again and put on a career performance.

“It takes everything you’ve got to get to where I’ve gotten before… I’ve got to see that all of that is there on fight night.”

The Brisbane based Irish fighter suggests Brown is more than equipped to test whether or not he can reach the performance levels that seen him compete at world title level.

“I’ve seen what he’s done, he’s done some good things in the sport. He’s a WBC world title challenger like myself,” Hogan said.

“It’s gonna make me work. I’ve just got to stick to my game-plan, put in 100%, it’s only six rounds. So I do believe I can do what I need to do for six rounds to get the job done.”

Reflecting on his last fight and bill topper Tszyu Hogan added:“He’s very strong at what he does.

“When you get in (the ring), you see those simple things that he does, he does very effectively. You know that youth is on his side. He likes to come forward and sort of overpower people.

“I was pretty tired after three rounds and it’s not really happened to me before. So whether that be the broken nose, not being able to breathe properly, or the fact he might have been just placing shots in the right area.

“I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and say he does some good things well.”

Jonny Stapleton

Irish-boxing.com contributor for 15 years and editor for the past decade. Have been covering boxing for over 16 years and writing about sports for a living for over 20 years. Former Assistant Sports editor for the Gazette News Paper Group and former Tallaght Voice Sports Editor. Have had work published in publications around the world when working as a freelance journalist. Also co-founder of Junior Sports Media and Leinster Rugby PRO of the Year winner. email: editoririshboxing@gmail.com

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