Magee on World title trail
6 August 2010 – Jonny Stapleton
Details of Brian Magees first European title defence caused a stir in Dublin this week and it wont be long before the Belfast fighter is making waves at world level according to manager Pat Magee.
Pat Magee revealed that the Lisburn stylist, who will defend his EBU title in the National Stadium on September 11, will be ranked number one in the new WBA rankings to be released in 10 days and will subsequently challenge for the World strap by the beginning of next year.
The former British champions world title journey will not end there however, as team Magee plan to unite the IBF and WBA belts before challenging the winner of the on going Super Six series.
Its an ambition plan for the 35-year old pugilist, but Magee is currently the highest ranked Irish fighter and the super-middleweight division is wide open at present.
Speaking at the press conference to launch Magees continental defence, Pat Magee, who admitted to burying the hatchet with one time foe Brian Peters over the Poonsawat saga, claimed:
Brian is currently ranked number five by the WBO and WBC. We turned down a shot at the IBF title because we didnt believe the timing was right for us. Brian will soon be ranked number one in the WBA rankings and his next fight will be for the WBA title.
Dimitri Sartison made a successful voluntary defence of the WBA belt last weekend and he is now due a mandatory. Even at this stage Brian is the next available highest contender so immediately after this European defence we will be talking about a World title shot for Brian Magee. If Brian wins the WBA belt we will then target the IBF champion and then go for the winner of the Super Six. Wouldnt that be something special, Magee explained before focusing on the September 11 defence.
With the world titles so close there is a lot at stake for us going into this next fight. We have had a look at the opponent already. He is tough and durable and Brian is certainly not expecting an easy fight. He is up for it and he is delighted to be back in Dublin.