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Jay Bryne to take on unbeaten prospect on VIP Contender finals night

Jay Byrne [9(2)-7(2)] will fight on VIP Contender finals night after all.

The Dubliner was knocked out of the series at the semi final stage after stepping in as a late replacement two weeks ago.

‘The Negotiator’ came in for Marc Kerr, the man he beat to claim the BBBofC Celtic title in Scotland last November, but the fighter who successfully defended that championships of Wales, Scotland and Ireland in March couldn’t register another impressive on the road victory.

The 32-year-old did compete well in a high octane and entertaining four round contest after stepping up weight, but lost out as the referee scored the fight 39-38 in John Telford’s favour.

The Irish title hopeful, who is more at home at light middleweight, had fought through the pain barrier having torn ligaments in his ankle a week out from the fight, but still managed to impress.

In fact he impressed to the extent that the shows promoter asked him back to play a part on the undercard of the decider.

“Originally the slot was discussed straight after the semi final when Sam [Kynoch] had explained the extend of my injury to Mike. Mike is a really good genuine guy and said he would like me back on the final card and I jumped at the chance at the time,” Byrne told Irish-boxing.com.

In typical Byrne style once he had the slot on the card he requested a clash with an unbeaten prospect.

The former Irish title challenger has faced the likes of Anthony Fowler, Felix Cash, Gerard Whitehouse and Stefan Sanderson and will now fight Ahmed Rossi [6(4)-0] on December 21st.

“Myself and Sam discussed possible opponents and I asked about newly signed 6-0 Ahmed Rossi and Sam had also the same Idea.The deal was done within hours between both parties and the I got the 6 round slot on the show. I’m delighted to have at least and more guaranteed fight before Christmas and delighted to have a slot on what again will be a phenomenal, a show that spares no expenses to the guests. I’m buzzing to get back on my feet and back into full camp.”

Jonny Stapleton

Irish-boxing.com contributor for 15 years and editor for the past decade. Have been covering boxing for over 16 years and writing about sports for a living for over 20 years. Former Assistant Sports editor for the Gazette News Paper Group and former Tallaght Voice Sports Editor. Have had work published in publications around the world when working as a freelance journalist. Also co-founder of Junior Sports Media and Leinster Rugby PRO of the Year winner. email: editoririshboxing@gmail.com

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