“I have a grudge now” – Regan Buckley blasts Carl McDonald for excuses
Regan Buckley [2(0)-0] only has eyes for old foe Carl McDonald.
The Bray little man felt he settled his grudge with the Jobstown fighter in the ring with victory back in the ‘Celtic Clash 3’ chief support in September.
While his 59-55 win was quite decisive, the prospect of a rematch has come up recently.
‘The Cobra’ claimed that he was far from his best that night at the National Stadium, noting problems outside the ring. McDonald then admitted that he would like a rematch following his comeback win on Saturday in Drimnagh.
Buckley, who has not fought since, welcomes a potential rematch.
However, ‘The Rocket’ has not been impressed with McDonald’s talk in recent weeks.
The Wicklow 20-year-old explained to Irish-Boxing.com how “before the first fight I didn’t have anything against Carl, I only had a point to prove.”
“Carl actually apologized after the first fight for the things he was saying.”
“But if you lose a fight fair and square, you hold your hand up and admit you lost and don’t be making excuses. If you’re not ready, don’t fight – and if you’re not fit, then don’t fight.”
“I had problems in my camp too, as does everyone, but I had to be professional about it and push on because that’s the job.”
“So, am I open to a rematch? I don’t want any other boxer now other than Carl. It doesn’t matter if it’s over 8 rounds or over 10 rounds because he won’t see the last round anyway.”
“Physically I’ve matured an awful lot in the last year, I’m even stronger than I’ve ever been.”
Buckley was in attendance at Good Counsel GAA club on Saturday for ‘Celtic Clash 5’ where McDonald [3(0)-1(0)] got back to winning ways with a 40-33 points triumph over Bulgarian Trayan Slavev.
The win, in which McDonald dropped the Bulgarian twice in the opener, did nothing to scare Buckley.
The St Teresa’s boxer noted how “personally, I wasn’t overly impressed by the performance, but I was happy for him on the night – I didn’t see what he said about our fight until the next day.”
“Slavev was 4-15-1 and 11 of his 15 losses were knockouts, so how could you rate someone’s performance against someone like that?”
Their first meeting was agreed to take place a pound under the 122lbs super bantamweight limit, and 28-year-old McDonald has since stated that he will never go an ounce under super bantamweight again. Buckley, who believes he could compete a full four weight classes below has no issue doing it again at super bantam.
The former Elite Senior light flyweight runner-up stated that “of course I will [fight McDonald at super bantamweight.”
“I fought Carl at 55kg in the last one and now he’s saying that was too light for him and now he wants super bantam which is only 8st10lb, 55.33kg, so there’s nothing in the difference.”
“I can make any weight, I’m young enough that I could make 49kg [light flyweight] if I wanted but my ideal weight for European title level is either 50.8kg [flyweight] or 52.1kg [super flyweight]. I’d be very big at those weights too.”
I’ve bulked myself up to 57kg because I thought I’d have to come down to 53.5kg [bantamweight] for Dylan McDonagh but now I’ve only to go to 55.33kg for Carl.”
“Carl was about 59kg on the night last time and I was still 55kg. But this time I won’t be as light.”
Buckley has been genuinely irritated by McDonald’s recent talk and described how “I’ve nothing to prove this time, this time it’s personal and I have a grudge now.”
“He should have accepted defeat and kept his mouth shut.”
“I’m glad he has more help this camp because I want the best possible Carl McDonald in that ring on the night. I want him to be the best he’s ever been so there can be no excuses when he goes home early and, mark my words, he will go home early!”
Should the fight be made, it would be another all-Irish fight for the youngster who is extremely keen on progression.
Buckley outlined how “I’ve said it all along – I don’t want to be fighting journeymen and going around telling everyone that I beat this lad when 15 other people already beat him and 11 KO’d him. What’s the point in that?”
“I understand there’s a necessity to learn your trade but I’m learning every single day and want to keep testing myself.”
“I dedicate my whole life to boxing, I eat, sleep, and breathe it. I’m in college at the moment, I don’t drink, I don’t socialize that often because it gets in the way of training, I make these sacrifices to keep my life simple to focus,” he added before going on to acknowledge his support structure.
“I’d like to thank my sponsors 3scaffolding, The Coach Inn Bray, Supreme Altitude, and Nutrition365 for all their help and support and also all of the coaches in St. Teresa’s B.C, pushing me all the time.”
Photo Credit: Ricardo Guglielminotti – The Fighting Irish (@ThefIrish)
