Seanie Monaghan rues “mysterious” Al Haymon as he sees world title fight shelved

Although some conspiracy theories suggest otherwise, Al Haymon isn’t Our Lord but, like God Almighty, the mystical boxing figure ‘moves in mysterious ways’ according to Seanie Monaghan.

That by now infamous ‘mystery’ surrounding the PBC boss is all that Monaghan [28(17)-0] can put forward as to why he hasn’t got the World title fight he so badly desires.

The New York fighter with strong Navan roots thought he had secured a shot at Adonis Stevenson’s WBC light heavyweight crown and was overjoyed to have finally gotten what many would suggest was a deserved tilt.

However, after terms were agreed with team ‘Superman’ the undefeated Long Beach native was informed the champion would be facing Andrzej Fonfara, a fighter another Irish American Joe Smith holds a stoppage win over, rather than the Navan man.

“It was very close [to happening],” Monaghan told Irish-Boxing.com.

“They negotiated all the terms; the purse, the venue, it was on BoxRec and everything they just didn’t have the date officially locked down!”

“I was as surprised as everyone else when I heard about Fonfara,” Monaghan added before trying to explain the reasoning the late change.

“I am really not sure. Al Haymon moves in mysterious ways.”

“Neither myself or my manager have ever spoken directly to him. Everything was through Lou DiBella and even Lou’s not exactly sure what happened.”

Despite not being one of the divisions more famous punchers, Monaghan has built a strong record and a good following with his throwback an exciting style. It was felt the reluctance of Top Rank to deal with Haymon was the reason the 35 year old hadn’t acquired a shot, but Stevenson’s decision to go for Fonfara may suggest otherwise.

“I guess it’s high risk low reward because I’m still not a widely known name,” Monaghan, who is ranked in the Top 15 of the WBC, IBF, and WBO, surmised.

Monaghan had revealed in recent weeks that he had been offered an Irish title fight with Celtic champion Steve Collins Jr and admitted it did prick up his attention.

However, Collins Jr nor the Irish title are on the immediate radar of the exciting puncher with World title ambitions.

“The Irish title is definitely something I’m going to get one day, I’m not sure if it’s the right time right now. In boxing anything can happen so I’m not ruling it out but right now I’d like to fight for a World title.”

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