More Galway fights ahead for Kieran Molloy
HAVING had the high of headlining on home ground last month, Kieran Molloy looks to go 6-0 against Lesther Espino in Belfast on Saturday.
Molloy told irish-boxing.com that while he really enjoyed headlining in Galway, he’s delighted to be on the card as Michael Conlan gets his second chance at becoming a world champion. “Look, there was lots of added pressure headlining the show in my home city, it was sold out and everything so the expectations and pressure were on me. But it all went good, thank God. This is something to be excited about as well, Michael Conlan fighting for a world title, it’s a huge platform and it’s great to be involved in these big nights.”
He expects to fight back in the City of the Tribes this year, possibly in a bigger venue than Leisureland. “It was class (fighting in Galway), it was something like I’ve never experienced before and the feedback was that people want to do it more often so we’ll look into doing one maybe later in the year, in September, in a bigger venue. The feedback has been very positive and I’m sure we can push on to bigger spots.”
He wants to be fighting for belts quite soon.
“Yeah, definitely. We’re definitely going to be looking for titles. At the moment we’re still in that building stage, I’m not calling anyone out or anything like that. But in three or four fights that’s when I’ll be doing my call outs.”
Molloy expects Espino will give him a tougher nights work than what he received in Galway, where he faced a tough but quite unambitious opponent. “He was tough, but quite negative. He went into his shell and he was hard enough to break down. This guy will be coming to fight. I had a tough fight in Germany last year, similar style, I’m looking forward to it.
“It’s very hard to fight someone who is just in their shell, behind a shield. And when you try to break them down they’re tough as nails as well to top it all off! But that’s their game and they’re good at doing it. Please God we get a good run out this Saturday.
Molloy also feels Michael Conlan will reach the promised land this time. “I think this is Michael’s time. It’s hard to get a second chance straight away at the world title and he’s going to be giving it everything. He’s definitely good enough to beat Lopez. I do see him winning.”
