Ryan O’Rourke is ‘ready made’ for pro success warns Slater

Fresh faced yet pro hardened Ryan O’Rourke [6-0] has the WBC world youth title in his sights.

The 21-year-old moves up to eight rounds in Spain tonight and continues a progression process that will lead to a title fight before the year is done, according to manager Conor Slater.

Slater hopes to secure the Dubliner a shot at the en vogue WBC youth title, an under-23 strap Katelynn Phelan has used to raise her profile, and one Paddy Donovan also wants very soon.

“We want to get him to the stage were every fight is an eight rounder and then he can step up to title level probably by the end of the year,” Slater told Irish-boxing.com.

“Ryan is going well in the gym at the moment and this will be 7-0 and my aim for him at the end of the year would be to go for the WBC youth world title.”

It’s a first eight rounder and a first lefty for O’Rourke tonight. The fight ticks another two boxes as he progresses up the ladder against the game and tough former Dylan Moran rival Israel Munoz [3(0)-17(3)].

“We got him a southpaw because we wanted him to gain experience fighting a lefty. This is his first eight rounder both of which is brilliant. It’s a good fight his opponent is a tough tough guy and he comes to have a go. .

O’Rourke has been a follower of the fast track approach his O’Rourke Gym stablemates have taken, albeit more so in volume than step ups.

He takes that approach despite not having the same amateur and being younger in years than the likes of Tony Browne and Tiernan Bradley.

However, Slater assures he is well versed in all things pro fighting and is ready made to move quickly.

“He is a ready-made pro, he is not too heavily experienced in the amateurs but he has been training like a pro since he was 16. You look at photos of him as a youngster and you’ll see pictures of him sparring Jack Catterall, Harlem Eubank, Gary Cully, Victor Rabei, and so on. So he has effectively been pro a long time.”