“I Battered Him Then, I’ll Batter Him Again” – McKenna Dismisses Moran’s Chances in Rematch
Tyrone McKenna has fired a brutal warning ahead of his September 13 farewell fight with Dylan Moran — insisting the Waterford man has no chance of revenge and never did.
The Belfast and Waterford fighters went to war Hagler-Hearn style last year, cramming a trilogy’s worth of action into two frantic rounds.
They will throw down and trade leather again on the massive Windsor Park-hosted Crocker-Donovan world title card.
Many are predicting a back-and-forth classic, but McKenna sees things differently. Indeed, he doesn’t believe their SETU set-to was a to and for affair.
“I battered him. I beat him up. He wasn’t in the fight,” McKenna told Irish-Boxing.com. “I don’t know where this narrative that it was tit-for-tat is coming from. He got chinned in two rounds.”
Moran came out of the blocks firing in the first meeting in a move that surprised everyone.
‘The Mighty Celt’ believes that approach eventually played into his hands.
“I know what he was trying to do. His corner shouted, ‘You hurt him!’ and he jumped in. He never hurt me. I hurt him and dragged him into a war. From there, it was over.”
‘The Real Deal’ has since implied he’s learned from that defeat and can win with a different strategy — likely one involving movement and counterpunching. But McKenna scoffs at the idea.
“He’s deluded. He thinks he can outbox me now after watching Harlem Eubank beat me — but he’s not Harlem. He’s not fast enough, not slick enough, not strong enough. No matter what plan he comes in with, he can’t beat me.”
Recalling some of their social media exchanges, McKenna laughed off Moran’s claims of knockdowns or hurting him.
“He said he put me down. He said let’s pick it up where we left off. I told him if we’re doing that, he’d better start on the canvas — because that’s where he ended up.”
Known for his self-deprecating honesty, McKenna insists he’s always the first to admit when he’s been hurt in a fight — but not this time.
“Ask anyone — I love telling war stories when I get caught or rocked. But Dylan didn’t lay a glove on me. That’s the truth.”
Now preparing for their rematch at Windsor Park, McKenna predicts an even quicker finish.
“It’s going to be the same thing again — just cleaner, quicker, and more brutal. A demolition job. He’s getting sparked again.”
