Keane living the Dream – McMahon rejoices in once in a lifetime oppurtuinity

Keane McMahon [7(4)-2(1)] would have agreed to a fight with King Kong if Madison Square Garden was the venue.

The Dubliner will take on an undefeated American on a world title undercard at Hulu Theater in the iconic New York venue later this month and to say he is excited is an understatement.

It’s a tough challenge but a massive career-changing opportunity, not that, that mattered to the O’Rourke’s Gym fighter when the call came.

Once ‘The Iceman’ heard MSG he was in.

It’s always been a dream of the Cabra fighter to appear at boxing’s most storied venue. It’s something he told his Grandfather we would do when he was a child.

“It means the world to me to be honest,” McMahon told Irish-boxing.com.

“It’s a dream come true I talked about things like this when I was a kid with my Granda and he would tell me about the legendary champions who fought there. It’s a dream come true.

“The chance to fight at the Garden was the main motivation behind me taking this fight, as I said it’s a dream come true and this opportunity is once in a lifetime,” he adds before noting “and a win would change my life.”

The Steven O’Rourke trained fighter takes on undefeated American Jahyae Brown [10(8)-0] on a Top Rank promoted televised bill.

The 22-year-old is signed to the same Star Boxing promotional company as McMahon’s gym mates Tony Browne and Ryan O’Rourke and is unbeaten in 10.

Eight of the New Yorker’s wins have come via stoppage with five of those being first-round kos.

It looks a daunting task for the 27-year-old Dub but he has been given notice and seems in confident mood and stresses it’s not as challenging a fight as his last.

“I’ve watched a bit of him he’s a top operator looking forward to challenging myself against him. I feel I have the tools to beat him we will have to wait and see on the night. The Madison Square Garden crowd can expect the usual skills on display solid fundamentals and most of all a determined and fit Keane McMahon.”

McMahon did attempt to step up previously, losing to Dean Sutherland in a keenly contested BUI Celtic title fight before a reverse at the gloves of Belgium prospect Anas Messaoudi in Belgium, which came after a two-year layoff.

He suggests he is in a much better place to cause an upset than he was against Messaoudi and believes Brown doesn’t compare favourably to the Belgian.

“There’s a huge difference the Belgium fight was my first in two years and I feel the Belgian is a better fighter than this lad for sure. Once again we will see on the night.”