Mixed emotions for Paddy Barnes after “frustrating fight”

Paddy Barnes‘s debut did not pan out as he had expected it would.

Obviously there were the disruptions to his camp, with his fiancée hospitalised throughout, then on Saturday night at the Titanic Exhibition Centre he was faced with an opponent with no interest in fighting – well, no interest in fighting under the Marquess of Queensberry Rules.

Bulgarian Stefan Slavchev found himself disqualified in the fourth round in Belfast for employing a fireman’s lift on Barnes, handing the Ardoyne man a bizarre first professional win.

The double Olympic bronze medalist had a few unprintable things to say about his opponent afterwards and noted how “he could have paralysed me if he slammed me to the ground.”

“In the amateurs everyone comes to win even if they are crap. He was crap and he ran away, it’s so frustrating.”

“Obviously journeymen are just there to survive, but I couldn’t even pin him down to make a fight of it and impress the fans because he was running away so much.”

Reflecting on the debut win, Barnes admitted that “I’ve mixed emotions, I’m disappointed for the fans because I didn’t get to showcase my full skills. I would have liked to have shown them on this stage how good I am. It was a frustrating fight for me.”

However, Barnes was happy to get off to a win, and paid credit to the raucous support at the venue. He described how “even though I’m disappointed because I wasn’t able to show the fans my full potential, I’m glad I got I there and made my debut and got it over and done with.”

“I couldn’t believe it [the reception from the fans], I wasn’t expecting it, it was unbelievable, they were chanting all throughout the fight.”

The fight, frustrating as it was, also furthered Barnes’s confidence that he will be a success in the paid game. The 29 year old, who confirmed that he will be trained in Scotland by Danny Vaughan going forward, explained that “I expected to be more tired, I wasn’t out of breath once. Pro boxing is going to suit me, I can’t believe how slow the pace is, you actually can’t get out of breath.”

“I’ll be focused next year on titles.”

Photo Credit: Michael Hooley