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Liam Gaynor plans to close in on Irish title shot with ‘outstanding’ Roll the Dice display

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Liam Gaynor [5-0] plans to produce a performance that makes him standout for reasons other than his flamed haired appearance so he can take a step toward Eric Donovan’s Irish title.

The Tallaght fighter spent the tail end of last year finding his feet after an 18 month sabbatical prompted him to relocate to Bolton.

Three solid wins and the Kilnamanagh man put himself back in the thoughts of Irish fight fans. Now he wants to step things up, progress to the next level and move toward an Irish title shot.

To ensure that he wants to put on a show at the Bolton Whites Hotel on one of the few shows that survived this weekend.

The 22-year-old is planning to a performance of ‘outstanding’ proportions on Kieran Farrell’s Roll the Dice II card.

“I am really looking forward to showcasing my skills on this show, first of 2020 and on a bigger bill then my previous ones with 2 English central area titles on it scheduled for 10 rounds each,” Gaynor told Irish-boxing.com.

“I am looking for an outstanding performance the weekend that will have people talking about the red haired Irish lad from Bolton. I am stepping up to 6 rounds, so I am definitely looking forward to the challenge and building knowledge over the longer rounds and how it’s paced.”

Gaynor believes some impressive performances and moving up the round ladder will allow him to challenge for the Irish featherweight title come the year end.

The strap is currently held by one of Ireland’s standout domestic performers, Eric Donovan. It’s most likely the Kildare 34-year-old will have progressed to Continental level by then, but if the bout was to be made Gaynor would be confident of victory.

“The Irish title is definitely on my mind. Hopefully by the end of the year, all depending on how my next few fights go I could challenge for it. The featherweight title holder at the moment is Eric Donovan a slick southpaw with some good experience behind him.

” If the fight is still there by the end of the year and Eric hasn’t moved on then I would happily take him on. I’ve seen a few of his previous fights and he has plenty of flaws that I know I could take advantage of but we’ll see where the year takes us.”

While he has one eye on the domestic scene in Ireland, Gaynor is keen to impress the locals on Saturday. He is building a fan base outside Manchester and believes his Roll the Dice opponent will help him win new fans.

“It’s my fourth fight here now and people have started building an interest in me, which is definitely something I aimed for coming over here.

“My opponent is Ed Harrison, a new journey man to the scene record of 0-3. He’s slightly taller then myself and isn’t afraid to let the shots go. I want exciting fighters like this as it makes the fight exciting for the fans, but also benefits me as a boxer building experience for title shots further down the line.”

St Michael’s duo Ryan O’Rourke and Paddy Nevin will also appear on the card.

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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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