Sinky Says

3 February 2010 – By Neil Sinclair

All the names are in the hat for Prizefighter now and I cant wait.

I think it is fair to say that me and Bradley Price are the most experienced. But there are a few decent boxers in there as well. I will learn more about them closer to the time.

It is a big opportunity as I think the winner will get a major title shot so it can progress my career onwards and open doors perhaps a European title fight? It would be quite something to be the fourth Irish European champion I dont think weve ever had three at one time, never mind four.

But for now the focus is Prizefighter. John Breen has won it before with Martin Rogan the inaugural event and he will be using that knowledge and experience with me.

Everything is in threes and sometimes fours to condition me to the format. Im sparring, shadow boxing with the gloves on, doing pads all in threes. It is all geared towards fighting in three round bursts a bit like learning to sprint instead of running a marathon.

The closest thing to it Ive ever had was in Dublin in the Irish Championships when I had two three rounders in one day.

One of the most important things is to avoid getting cut or bruised as that would be disasterous. I think I can come through unscathed and emerge as the Prizefighter Champion anything can happen after that. I know for a fact that the winner will get a title.

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Sinky Says certainly has certainly helped open a few doors for me. Over Christmas a couple of lads came up to me in the Duke of York, a bar in Belfast, and they were saying that they loved the column, so it is always good to get feedback from boxing fans.

A few weeks back I was asked to do co-commentary for Setanta for Brian Magees European title fight. It was something I always wanted to do and to get to do it for a fight like that – with someone you know winning a major title – just makes it extra special.

Im also going to be working on a Friday column for the Newsletter, which should be a bit of fun. Obviously Im not doing that much that it is taking my eye off the ball in the gym, it is just great to have a platform and it is something I would like to go into after I finish boxing.

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I had a great night at the National Boxing Awards recently and it was great to see the event get such great coverage in the press. Irish boxing is going from strength to strength and the awards night was a great example of that. A few years back who would have thought that there would be so many boxers active that we could even have an event like that and it is something that I think will grow year on year. I had a great night catching up with boxers past and present and Im looking forward to next years event where hopefully I will be up for some sort of award!