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 ‘Unfinished Business’ 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 “liberated” 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 “the last fight was great, it was a huge turning point for me for few reasons.”
“It 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.”
“Also, 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.”
“I remember thinking in the ring, ‘Lynn this girl is no pushover, if you don’t step it up now and show this girl who’s boss and she wins, you’re f*cking finished,’ – so I did, and you can literally see the minute I changed and went into character.”
“That 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.”
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, ‘The Hunter’ commented that “she was unknown so I had no idea of tactics before I went in.”
“Watching it back, I could literally see myself figuring it out – 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.”
Photo Credit: Ricardo Guglielminotti – 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 €15 (Under 15s), €30, €40, €45, and €55 (Premium), and are available from the boxers involved.
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Joe O’Neill and Gavan Casey speak to Jason Quigley on Episode 5 of The Irish Boxing Show:
