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Jay Byrne hoping to follow Creagh into early big fights

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Light welterweight Sean Creagh has a refreshing attitude towards boxing. Initially the Tallaght man took up the sweet science to lose a few pounds, but after shedding nearly half his bodyweight and excelling at white collar level, he decided to take the plunge into the pros.

Now, after just four fights, he has dived straight into an eight rounder with Belfast’s Tyrone McKenna [10(3)-0-1] a former elite amateur. Creaghsy attitude and progression is something which his pal Jay Byrne would like to emulate.

Like Creagh, Byrne only took up the sport in his twenties (although has had a lot more amateur experience, even founding St Margaret’s BC). Indeed many also scoffed at Byrne when he made the move to turn pro, but his debut performance certainly silenced any doubters. The 30 year old doesn’t want to hang around either as he moves toward his second professional contest tomorrow evening in Belfast.

Byrne predicts that Creagh will fare well against McKenna, and revealed to Irish-Boxing.com that he is already trying to secure similar fights for himself.

“Sean is a good friend of mine and his story is a fairytale in boxing. He’ll cause Tyrone all sorts of problems,” he told Irish-Boxing.com

“I have already asked Tommy and Eddie [McCormack and Hyland] to make contact over a possible big fight soon but sadly i ain’t eligible yet.”

“Lets be honest, what’s the point in taking up a sport if you don’t want to achieve big?

Tomorrow’s fight against Liam Griffiths at the Europa Hotel coincides with the week of the Loughlinstown man’s 30th birthday. Indeed Byrne already had a holiday to Las Vegas booked for last weekend when he was given news of the fight. Rather than turn down the date for a boozy blow-out, Byrne brought his training with him to Sin City. Describing his holiday, Byrne explained that “I’m back from Vegas since Tuesday night and I arrived home 0.4kg (0.9lbs) under weight.”

“I trained everyday in the gym, 20km cycling and some runs and conditioning, and sent all the workouts to Eddie and Tommy.”

“Does that sound like someone who just wants to have few fights? I’m in this game to do the best I can.”

Photo Credit: Ricardo Guglielminotti – The Fighting Irish (@ThefIrish)

Joe O'Neill

Reporting on Irish boxing the past five years. Work has appeared on irish-boxing.com, Boxing News, the42.ie, and local and national media. Provide live ringside updates, occasional interviews, and special features on the future of Irish boxing. email: joneill6@tcd.ie

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