O’Kane happy to take Saunders scalp

EAMONN O’Kane says he is happy to scalp Billy Joe Saunders.

The undefeated middleweight has joined the likes of Gary ‘Spike’ O’Sullivan and Hassan N’Dam in being linked with the Derry middleweight in recent weeks.

Indeed the English southpaw says if Chris Eubank Jr doesn’t agree to a rematch he would like to fight the IBF World ranked middleweight this Summer.

And O’Kane is certainly open to the clash.

“He’s (Saunders) not afraid to call anybody out and if he’s good to his word then it would be great to fight him,” said O’Kane.

“I definitely think I’ve proved I’m capable of fighting on the world scene and he’s ranked in all the governing bodies in the top five. So if you want to be getting a world title shot that’s the sort of scalps you have to be taking.”

The Commonwealth gold medal winner knows Saunders would provide a tough test, but at this stage of his career he is looking for names that can propel him toward a World title fight.

“It’s never going to be an easy fight. There are no easy options,” he claimed. “I have to prepare as best as you can. If you’re good enough to be world champion you will be! It’s flattering to be mentioned by these guys and I hope to capitalise on it. That’s the kind of people I want to be mixing with and I believe I can cause him a lot of problems.”

The former Prizefighter winner has been name dropped by a few punchers of late. If Hassan N’Dam claims the IBF World title that is a makeable fight and Spike O’Sullivan has been mentioned as a possible foe.

“Hassan N’Dam’s manager, Gary Hyde has already been in touch about a fight with me. If he wins his fight against Lemieux for the IBF title then that could lead to a big fight in Dublin or preferably closer to home.

“So the interest is there and it’s good to have my name pushed around in that circle of names. I want to be world champion and that’s why I have been making the sacrifices.”