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Opponent confirmed for Paddy Barnes debut

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An opponent for the professional debut of Paddy Barnes has been confirmed.

The Belfast fighter makes his long-awaited pro debut at the Titanic Exhibition Centre after a glittering amateur career which included two Olympic bronze medals.

The 29 year old will face Bulgarian Stefan Slavchev [8(4)-24(11)-1] on the Belfast Boxnation bill in a fight which is scheduled for six-rounds.

23 year old Slavchev is no stranger to these shores having twice fought Belfast’s Luke Wilton, a six-round points loss and a second round stoppage defeat. The Eastern European was also stopped in the fourth round of a London-hosted bout with Ryan Burnett. This year Slavchev has been stopped in the second round by then-European bantamweight champion Ryan Farrag and outpointed over four by new English champion Don Broadhurst.

While the opponent is perhaps not as strong as Barnes had previously envisioned, a massively disrupted build up for the Holy Family GG man needs to be taken into account

Saturday’s clash will feature prominently on the Jamie Conlan-topped bill. Also featuring on the undercard in Belfast are Declan Geraghty, Sean Turner, Con Sheehan, Stephen Ormond, Gary Sweeney, Marco McCullough, debutant Steven Ward, and the mouthwatering clash between Tyrone McKenna and Sean Creagh.

Joe O'Neill

Reporting on Irish boxing the past five years. Work has appeared on irish-boxing.com, Boxing News, the42.ie, and local and national media. Provide live ringside updates, occasional interviews, and special features on the future of Irish boxing. email: joneill6@tcd.ie

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