Egan hits out at ‘couch potato’ Barnes critics
He is Paddy Barnes ‘he can do what he wants’ according to fellow Irish fight legend Kenneth Egan.
The ten-time Irish champion and Olympic silver medal winner hit out at those criticising the two time Olympic medal winner after he was eliminated from Rio 2016 by Spain’s Samuel Carmona Heredia.
Like our Joe O’Neill, who had his say here, Egan can’t understand the criticism of the Belfast fighter.
“I went to Twitter after the fight and you have all these couch potatoes slagging him and giving him stick because he was going round getting a few selfies and that. He’s at the Olympic games. He can do what he wants. He’s earned his place,” Egan told Newstalk 106FM’s Off The Ball.
Egan is adamant Barnes attempt to become Ireland’s first ever three time Olympic medalist was lost on the scales. The former darling of the National Stadium claims he knew quite early that making 49kgs had this time taken its toll on the all-action puncher.
“When he sat down after the first round, I just saw his chest just deflated and he let out a massive gasp of air and that’s not like Paddy Barnes. That’s not the Paddy Barnes I know,” he said, before detailing the weight cut issue which affected the Belfast fighter.
“It’s getting harder and harder for Paddy to make that weight. It’s a killer for him. I know him, I’ve been in camp with him. For the last couple of days of camp and into competition, he’s like a man possessed. He won’t talk, he won’t laugh, he won’t smile, he won’t socialise. He turns into a demon and it’s a killer for him. That’s the hardest part of his game, making the weight.”
