Seanie Monaghan hoping to win Irish title in honour of late father

Seanie Monaghan [29(17)-1(1)] says he would fight Paddy McDonagh in a heartbeat as he wants to bring his late father’s ashes to Navan as a champion of Ireland.

Having bounced back from a first career defeat to Marcus Browne, the Long Island native is back on the world title trail and wants big fights in a vibrant light heavyweight division he remains a name in.

A domestic strap wouldn’t overly appeal to most fighters at that stage of their career nor a 36 year old with a world ranking, but the Irish title remains special for Monaghan so he has welcomed Paddy McDonagh’s calls for a fight.

The entertaining WBO #4 has recently lost his father and has plans to bring the late Davy Monaghan’s ashes back to his hometown of Navan – and the light heavyweight contender would love to do that with an Irish title strapped proudly around his waist.

“My father Davy just passed away, we’re gonna spread his ashes back in Navan sometime soon. I’d love to do it with the Irish title around my waist, he would’ve loved that,” Monaghan told Irish-Boxing.com.

There is emotional incentive for the New York-born puncher, but the Irish title is something Monaghan has had his eye on for a long time.

He certainly wasn’t surprised to hear that reigning title holder Paddy McDonagh had name dropped him and points out he has known about the Mullingar man since 2012.

“We’ve been talking about this for a long time, for one reason or another it never happened. Paddy’s been on my radar for years now ever since he beat John Waldron for the title,” Monaghan, who also had talks with Ciaran Healy with regard to challenging for the title, added before stressing what has stopped the fight happening.

“Like I said we’ve been talking for a long time but there hasn’t been a big financial opportunity yet. Hopefully Paddy can get a big win and get himself in a position where a promoter will pay big money for the fight.”

“It’s gonna happen one day, I’d just like it to be for big money for both of us.”

Monaghan certainly seems to have kept a close watch on the light heavyweight scene in Ireland over the years and is aware of McDonagh’s resume. The Long Beach man isn’t too keen to make predictions with regard to a winner, rather just says he is keen to get the fight made.

“Paddy had a good win there against young Steve Collins but besides that his resume doesn’t impress me.”

“The guys I know from Ireland tell me he’s a good fighter. I don’t like to talk trash or make predictions, I’ll just say I’d fight him in a heartbeat and may the best man win.”

Any McDonagh-Monaghan title fight all relies on the champion successfully defending his title on ‘The Beginning’ card on July 7th at the National Stadium versus mandatory challenger David Bailey. Meanwhile, Monaghan may have bigger fish to fry as he plots a world title assault.

“I just took my first loss as a pro in 30 fights, I had one comeback fight now I’ve got my eyes set on big fights. I’m currently ranked #4 in the world by the WBO and I would definitely love to win the world title.”