Despite promising Stephen Ormond an immediate rematch after their controversial world title eliminator – if he won the title – it is unlikely that new WBO world champion, Terry Flanagan, will grant ‘The Rock’ first shot at his belt.

Flanagan won the testy Valentine’s Night match-up between the pair in Wolverhampton after the Dubliner was disqualified in the tenth round of a close fight for persistent use of the head. Many, including legendary referee Mickey Vann, believed that this disqualification could have been avoided if the referee on the night, Steve Gray, had pulled Flanagan up on his persistent holding.

Flanagan promised Ormond after the bout that he would give him a rematch if he subsequently won the WBO lightweight title – which he did last month against Jose Zepeda.

Yesterday it was announced that Flanagan would defend his belt for the first time on October 10th at the 21,000 capacity Manchester Arena.

This would seemingly rule out Ormond as a potential opponent for this first defence, as the Clondalkin man has been hotly tipped to appear on the undercard of Andy Lee’s world title defence against Billy Joe Saunders at Thomond Park.