‘I’m That Guy’ – Latimer Wants to Give O’Neill the Test he ‘Needs’

Jordan Latimer [2(0)-2(1)] wants to try come and try and take Owen O’Neill‘s head off.

The Manchester-based Sligo-connected light middleweight wants to give the Belfast fighter the step-up test that he ‘needs’.

‘Pretty Boy’ says it’s time for the Dee Walsh trained O’Neill [7(0)-0] to move away from landing leather on journeymen to fighting someone who will throwback.

Turning boxer to manager, Latimer advised when speaking to Irish-boxing.com that “O’Neill needs to step up and fight a fellow aggressive come forward fighter instead of your basic journeymen, who are there just to survive. If he fought me I will to try and knock his head off.”

Latimer certainly wants the chance to fight ‘Triple O’ and believes the Boxing Ireland entertainer would be willing to fight him.

“I want the O’Neill fight because he seems to want to fight anyone domestically. I think he is a proper old-fashioned fighter who wants 50/50 fights,” he adds before heaping further praise on the 26-year-old.

“O’Neill is a good fighter I’m not going say he’s not. He’s 7-0 something no one can take from him. I just think he needs a proper test someone willing to trade with him and I’m that guy. He also seems like a sound geezer as well.”

The 23-year-old often vocal fighter was last seen in the ring entertaining over four with Limerick’s Graham McCormack – and he predicts a Belfast vs Sligo clash would produce in a similar fashion.

“Our styles would gel. We are good both come forward fighters and it would be a good domestic brawl. The fight between us would be toe to toe. It would be very similar to what me and McCormack had against each other in Glasgow. I see it as a very tense and interesting fight that could go either way.”

Latimer didn’t get the win over McCormack but he did put up a fight and put a knockout defeat to John Docherty behind him by going the distance.

He claims the improvements made came on the back of a change of attitude to the sport.

“Ahead of my last performance, I was training for 4 months. I took boxing seriously for that time. I had a few fights fall through which was hard to take but I still stayed focused. When McCormack fight was confirmed I was buzzing.

“The performance wasn’t a shock to me or my team. Everything was done properly and I was pleased with how I fought. He fought my style of fight and I loved every minute of it. I think pushing on and with momentum now I can achieve bigger things,” he adds before revealing he and McCormack settled all their issues in the ring, although he would like a rematch.

“Me and Graham are sound now. Before the fight we had a bit of tension, which is normal I think, espically before a big fight. After we were back to normal. I spent some time with his team and kept in contact. I wish him well in his next fight. I’d love to fight him again sometime in the future.”