McCloskey destroys Hatton
05 January 2009 – By Mark Doyle
Rendall Munroe will defend his European super-bantamweight title against mandatory challenger Kiko Martinez on February 27.
Munroe dethroned Martinez as champion by claiming a deserved majority points win over the previously undefeated Spaniard in March of last year.
Former European titleholder Bernard Dunne has been repeatedly linked with a bout with Munroe but the pairs respective promoters, Brian Peters and Frank Maloney, reportedly failed to reach agreement over the purse and the venue.
Martinez always remained in pole position to secure a rematch with Munroe, though, El Sensacion having racked up three successive victories since losing the title last year.
His second crack at the 28-year-old southpaw is scheduled to take place at the Barnsley Metrodome but Munroes manager, Mike Shinfield, remains hopeful that the bout could yet be staged in 2Tone’s native Leicester.
“We’re still waiting to hear back from a couple of venues and we’re still hopeful the fight will be somewhere in Leicestershire. We expect to know more by the end of the week,” he is quoted as saying by the Leicester Mercury.