Jake Hanney plots new route to domestic dominance
Formerly a scaffolder, Jake Hanney knows the importance of keeping things level and the spirited Dubliner is excited to see what he can do when the playing field is flat.
At one stage the East Wall light welterweight was one of the hottest prospects in Australia before moving home and going into successive domestic dust-ups with Tyrone McKenna and Victor Rabei cold, losing both.
A period away from the sport followed before ‘The Wizard’ made his return at the weekend in Spain on the Celtic Clash 11 show.
His knockout win over late-replacement Sylvester Ajtai sees Hanney improve his record to 6(5)-2(1) but it’s not going to be used to springboard immediately into another domestic. Instead the 32-year-old is hoping to build, rolling the dice one more time but ensuring he has as much chance of success as possible.
A happy Hanney told Irish-Boxing.com that “it’s great to be back, it’s been coming a long time for me personally and it was a long, hard eight-week camp!”
“The camp was a great camp, the set up is second to none and the sparring is top class.”
When finally let off the leash after a long lay off it was bad news for Hungarian Szylvester Ajtai as Hanney went in for the kill with a round 1 demolition @jake_hanney @LoveIrishBoxing @OnGuardamar @stesharpe1 pic.twitter.com/ZwOD4JnCuK
— KO! Media (@KOTVMedia) June 30, 2021
Secured the day before after the initial opponent pulled out, Ajtai offered no resistance and was put away early by a vicious-looking Hanney who is trying to balance his desire for ring time and his natural killer instinct.
“That was the plan, to get a few rounds,” admits the Dubliner. “But as soon as I hit the first bodyshot, he went very negative, so I put it on him a little bit and got him out straight away. No point getting rounds if he’s that negative!”
“He’s had 14 wins and seven by KO, so he knew his way around the ring, he also weighed two kilos heavier than me at the weigh-in.”
There are plenty of domestic fights to be had for Hanney but he will not be jumping into anything, explaining how “they’re the fights we all want, me and the team have a plan in place and when I’m ready we will pounce.”
“I’ve never really had a level playing field in them, so let’s see the results when I have.”
“I’d still like to get rounds in, but definitely a step up in opponent. I’m hoping to be out very soon, in July or August and then I’ll be on Celtic Clash 12.”
