Liberated Lynn Harvey ready for National Stadium return
Lynn Harvey [3(2)-1(0)] is ready to return to the National Stadium free from all the pressure and emotion that surrounded her last fight at the venue.
The Kilbarrack light flyweight lost to Mary Romero at the home of Irish boxing in November, and made a rapid return to the South Circular Road for another fight, against another Spaniard, in February.
A gutsy move no doubt, Harvey took on Sara Coca on the Red Corner âUnfinished Businessâ bill and would wrestle her way on top of a tough opponent who was disqualified in the third for a dazed kick.
Now Harvey returns to the venue a âliberatedâ fighter for the May 27th Celtic Clash 2 card, where she faces Ivanka Ivanova over six two-minute rounds.
Looking back on her fight with Coca, Harvey explained to Irish-Boxing.co that âthe last fight was great, it was a huge turning point for me for few reasons.â
âIt was huge for me because I was returning to the Stadium after a very bad experience where my face was left in a bad way.â
âAlso, the fact that Coca was so tough, she was taking hard shots full into the face and kept coming. I knew that, if I let the occasion get the best of me and did not pull my shit together, that she was tough enough to beat me.â
âI remember thinking in the ring, âLynn this girl is no pushover, if you donât step it up now and show this girl whoâs boss and she wins, youâre f*cking finished,â â so I did, and you can literally see the minute I changed and went into character.â
âThat was the first fight where I let go of myself, let go of tension and overthinking, and just relaxed and played around, made faces, the lot. I felt very liberated after it, I have that in the bank now to channel it when I want it again.â
In addition to the mental side of things, Harvey also saw technical improvements in what was her second fight under coach Tommy McCormack
Against a late opponent, who turned out to be a lot heavier, âThe Hunterâ commented that âshe was unknown so I had no idea of tactics before I went in.â
âWatching it back, I could literally see myself figuring it out â from how scrappy it was in first half of the first round, to the ease in which I got through the second and third rounds, how I was just picking her off and making her miss.â
Photo Credit: Ricardo Guglielminotti â The Fighting Irish (@ThefIrish)
The May 27th card, the largest in Irish boxing history, also features Eric Donovan, Jay Byrne, Mike Perez, Stephen Carroll, JJ McDonagh, Sean Creagh, Vladimir Belusjky, Rohan Date, Allan Phelan, Gerard Whitehouse, Carl McDonald, as well as debutants Liam Gaynor, John Joyce, Regan Buckley, Johnny Corcoran, Stephen McAfee, and Keane McMahon.
Tickets for Celtic Clash 2 are priced at âŹ15 (Under 15s), âŹ30, âŹ40, âŹ45, and âŹ55 (Premium), and are available from the boxers involved.
â
Joe OâNeill and Gavan Casey speak to Jason Quigley on Episode 5 of The Irish Boxing Show: