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‘No One Deserves It More Than Me’ – Thomas O’Toole Latest to Call for Taylor-Serrano MSG Slot

Thomas O’Toole [3(2)-0] is adamant no one deserves a slot on the historic Katie Taylor versus Amanda Serrano undercard than him.

The Connemara fighter added another win to his slate when he out-pointed Larry Pryor over six rounds on a Valentine’s Day Massacre card in New York last Saturday.

Straight after the win he set his sights on a slot on the undercard of the greatest female fight of all time and let it be known he wants to fight at Madison Square Garden on April 30.

‘The Kid’ isn’t the only Irish fighter campaigning to get on the card, in fact, he isn’t the National Elite Championship light heavyweight champion being vocal about wanting to appear on the bill.

Olympian Emmet Brennan has made some serious noise with regard to debuting on what promises to be an iconic card, noise that is said to have caught the attention of Eddie Hearn and co.

However, Galway’s O’Toole argues is most qualified and most deserving of an appearance.

“The Taylor card is the goal,” he told Irish-boxing.com after his most recent win.

“Every Irish fighter wants to be on it but to be honest no one deserves it more than me,” he adds before giving Eddie Hearn the sales pitch and playing the Gaeilgeoir card.

“Not only am I based on the East Coast but I’ve also proven myself to them. That performance on the Quigley card had people talking and I’ve now got a huge following over in America. I also believe this is Irish history so why not have an Irish speaker on the card?”

O’Toole produced a Knockout of the Year contender on a DAZN broadcast fight night just before Christmas, stopping previously undefeated American Mark Malone in spectacular fashion on the undercard of Jason Quigley’s unsuccessful attempt to dethrone Demetrius Andrade, grabbing Eddie Hearn’s attention in the process.

At the time the Matchroom boss, who promotes the eagerly awaited clash between Taylor and Serrano, labeled it a ‘performance that warrants another opportunity’- and the 23-year-old is hopeful that promised opportunity comes this April.

“Eddie knows me now and I’m told I’ll get another opportunity so why not this one. It’s been a dream of mine since I was a child to fight at MSG.”

After looking forward and to possible spring action O’Toole afforded himself time to reflect on his third pro win.

The Kid’ went the distance since turning over, having scored two first-round knockouts in his previous fights, and he showed he had the stamina for six.

Speaking on the win he said: “The performance was oka. It was the first time getting proper rounds in over 2 years, so I could feel the rustiness. But it was great experience and now I want to build on it. For me, rounds are the most important thing so Saturday was very good and I’m looking for more of the same in the next few months.”

Jonny Stapleton

Irish-boxing.com contributor for 15 years and editor for the past decade. Have been covering boxing for over 16 years and writing about sports for a living for over 20 years. Former Assistant Sports editor for the Gazette News Paper Group and former Tallaght Voice Sports Editor. Have had work published in publications around the world when working as a freelance journalist. Also co-founder of Junior Sports Media and Leinster Rugby PRO of the Year winner. email: editoririshboxing@gmail.com

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