Owen O’Neill Ready to Turn Heartbreak to Breakthrough in Canada
Owen O’Neill says he’ll turn heartbreak into break-out when he fights in Canada on Saturday.
‘The Operator’ takes on recent IBO title challenger Sukhdeep Singh Bhatti in a clash that he believes could change the course of his career.
The 28-year-old chance comes almost a year on from the lowest point of his career — a devastating first-round stoppage defeat to Dylan Moran in Belfast.
The Hammer Boxing light middleweight admits the reverse stung badly, but he also reveals it was the catalyst for the kind of change that has him ready to upset the apple cart in Ontario.
“I’m going over to cause an upset,” O’Neill declared when speaking to Boxing Tickets NI. “I’ve watched him, and I believe I can cause him trouble. I’ve been training flat out for seven months, and I’ve given this everything. No matter what happens, I can walk away knowing that.”
“It was the worst night of my life. I was heart heartbroken. I still think about it all the time. But now I look at it as if it’s the best thing that’s happened to me because I’ve changed a lot of things. I look at it in a positive way now.”
Originally set to fight on a small hall show at home, O’Neill was preparing to face a journeyman and slowly rebuild when a call from coach Daniel Anderson flipped everything on its head.
“I was supposed to fight a journeyman on Jay Byrne’s show, but I was struggling to sell tickets and felt like I was starting from scratch,” he explained. “Then Dan rang and said we had an offer to fight in Canada. I didn’t even ask who it was. I just said yes.”
What he agreed to was an eight-round clash with Singh — a 19-1 Canadian contender whose only loss came in a recent IBO title tilt. It’s a big step up, on paper, but O’Neill believes the risk comes with massive potential reward.
“I’ve got nothing to lose,” he said. “He’s the home fighter. He’s world-level. I’m expected to lose. But that’s the kind of pressure I thrive under. Everyone loves an underdog story, and I’m going to give everything I have to be that story this weekend.”
