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‘Now or Never’ for ‘Cat on his Ninth Life’ Dennis Hogan

Dennis Hogan  [30(7)-4(2)-1] admits he is like a cat that has used up eight of his nine lives going into his eagerly anticipated clash with Sam Eggington [32(18)-7(2)] .

‘The Hurricane’ says he’ll stop blowing if he loses to the Brit in Australia in early October.

The Oz-based Kildare fighter claims another world title defeat would prove too damaging to recover from and as a result, it’s win or hang them up for him.

“I said I was going to give it one more crack,” Hogan told foxsports.com.au.

“We’re back here now, it is what it is. I’m not picking myself up off the ground to go back to the top anymore.

“I’m not getting any younger, it’s a young man’s sport. I’m 37 years of age. I’ve certainly put in. Right now, it’s do or die. Now or never. I’m either going to be a world champion or I’m not.”

Three of Hogan’s four losses to date have come from unsuccessful world title pursuits. The first an ‘Interim’ title fight with Jack Culcay in 2015 before a Mexican robbery at the fist of Jaime Munguia and defeat up at middleweight against Jermall Charlo.

He now faces Brummie Eggington for the IBO light middleweight world title on a 20-fight No Limit Card Down Under come October 7 and says both his career and belt are on the line.

“I kept training because that element is always there, if it goes bad, we can go again,” Hogan said.

“But I’ve exhausted all of those lives in my basket. I’m a cat now on his ninth life. I’ve got to get this right and I’m making sure I do.”

It’s honest from Hogan rather than any mind games play. He goes into the fight knowing what’s at stake but with a belief, it’s finally his time and confident he has the style to be the ever-game Hennessy fighter.

“I have great confidence in my ability anyway, but for the likes of Sam and his style, I think my style beats his style if executed right every day of the week.

“There is no doubt he is going to try to get me into a scrap because that’s how he fights. It’s up to me to have the best game plan possible and execute that to a tee. It will be a tough fight, he’s tough and he isn’t going to want to give away his title. He’s going to meet me with a do-or-die attitude and it should be an exciting fight,” he adds before revealing the relevance of a world belt for him.

“The last belt that I need in my cabinet is the one that says world champion. I’ve 10 other belts with everything else on there, I just need a world champion on there and now I get the opportunity to make a long-time dream come true.”

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