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“I can hit!” – Pauly Upton looking to continue KO streak

Pauly Upton [13(3)-0] is beginning to prove his power as he ramps up his activity levels.

The Irish light middleweight champion won the title after stopping Terry Maughan in the sixth round last year.

Following an extended period out, Upton would link up with MTK Global and switch trainers to Barry Smith and Harry Andrews. A St Patrick’s Day return to the ring saw him score a fourth round stoppage over Nikolay Kolyandov.

Upton always knew he had power, and is feeling stronger than ever ahead of his next fight on Friday night. Here he will take on Deividas Sajauka over six on an MTK London show at the Brentwood Centre in Essex.

“It’s nice to start racking up some KOs because I can hit,” Upton told Irish-Boxing.com.

“I’m feeling strong at the moment. I’ve been working hard with Liam Price my strength coach and it seems to be paying off.”

“The fight on Paddy’s day was decent. The opponent wasn’t the best but I didn’t let him get working.”

It’s often said that an active fighter is a happy fighter, and a happy fighter is a dangerous fighter. This certainly applies to Upton who described how “camp’s gone well.”

“I’m working well with Barry and Harry on new things, we have gelled well.”

“It’s great being part of MTK, they are keeping me busy and it’s keeping me working hard.”

In Sajauka [6(3)-32(2)] he is presented with an extremely durable opponent, although Upton wouldn’t mind keeping up his KO streak against the Lithuanian middleweight.

Upton explained that “I’ve had few different opponents pull out. He has a losing record, a journeyman, but he hardly gets stopped.”

“He takes fighters rounds, so hopefully I get a few under the belt and, if I can, I’ll try get the stoppage.”

“After this I hope to be stepping up and start fighting in some big fights for any title that is available.”

Joe O’Neill and Gavan Casey speak to Jason Quigley on Episode 5 of The Irish Boxing Show:

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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