Moore: I wanted Sinclair showdown

27 August 2009 – By Mark Doyle

New York-based Wicklowman James Moore has told irish-boxing.com that he did his utmost to secure a bout with Irish light-middleweight champion Neil Sinclair.

The fight had been proposed for the undercard of Martin Rogans Commonwealth heavyweight title fight with Sam Sexton, but in his Sinky Says column last week Sinclair said the fight had fallen through as Moore had failed to agree terms.

And Moore admits the mouth-watering match-up failed to materialise because he was not happy with the financial package on offer.

“The Sinclair fight was ruled out last week,” he revealed in an exclusive interview with irish-boxing.com.

“To be honest, I think it was all just hype for the Odyssey show! They wanted me to pay for all my teams flights over, and even when I agreed, they dropped the purse. As much as I wanted to fight in Belfast, I just couldn’t justify it.

Moore of course has special memories of Belfast, and indeed the Odyssey, having struck bronze in the 2001 World Amateur Boxing Championships at the Docklands’ arena.

It would have been an interesting fight. Both of us were Irish welterweight champions and I’m not sure but I don’t think two former Irish Senior Champions have fought in the paid ranks for an Irish title.

Though a clash with Sinclair now seemingly ruled out, Moore continues to train and is currently looking at a fight in October. After that, he remains keen on a contest with old amateur rival Henry Coyle, who incidentally was defeated by Sinclair last time out at the Odyssey. However, Moore believes this is a fight Coyle does not want.

I’d love a fight with Coyle and I’d even go to Mayo for it, he said. “But Team Coyle don’t want the fight; they have made that quite clear.”