‘His coach is an eejit and birds of a feather flock together’ – McCarthy’s McGuigan disdain behind CBS grudge
It’s a grudge match but not as we know it!
Tommy McCarthy [18(9)-2(1)] has agreed to temporarily put his world title pursuit to one side, take ‘a step back’ and ‘bate the bollocks’ out of Chris Billam Smith [12(10)-1] in a bid to settle a unique grudge.
Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn confirmed a meeting of the title-holding cruiserweights will take place during the second installment of Fight champ, presumably in late July.
Despite distancing himself from the Bournemouth native during fight week, McCarthy v Billam Smith was confirmed as made within minutes of the Belfast cruiserweight retaining his European title with the destruction of Alexandru Jur live on Sky on Saturday night.
🇮🇪 MAC ATTACK TOO STRONG FOR JUR 🇮🇪@Tommymac90 finishes off Alexandru Jur with a big body shot in the sixth round having already put his opponent on the canvas earlier in the fight 💪#McCarthyJur pic.twitter.com/xiBwWeoDVK
— Sky Sports Boxing (@SkySportsBoxing) May 15, 2021
‘The Gentleman’s’ calling out of McCarthy during fight week got so under the skin of manager Mark Dunlop, that he got vocal about a match up prior to the weigh-in. ‘The Mac Attack’ also seems to have take exception to certain things said, to such a degree he has agreed to take what he believes is a backward step to settle a grudge that appeared from nowhere.
However, there is more to his dislike of ‘CBS’ than some verbals and thus more reason for him to agree to the fight.
McCarthy revealed a strong dislike for Shane McGuigan in his post fight interview and makes Billam Smith guilty by association. The Commonwealth title holder is coached by the former Ulster champion and son of Irish fight legend Barry McGuigan – and that’s enough for ‘Big Tommy’ to query his likabilty.
“I don’t know Chris Billam Smith”, McCarthy said, “but his coach is an eejit and birds of a feather flock together and rats run in packs. So, I don’t like Shane and I don’t like Chris.”
