Spar Wars – Thomas O’Toole has inside line on Title Foe
Luckily enough for Thomas O’Toole, the bro code trumps the sparring code in Boston.
The Galway favourite fights in Beantown for the eighth time in his career this Saturday and hopes to celebrate moving into double figures with a title win.
‘The Kid’ looks to graduate to the next stage of his career when he fights Russell Kimber for the vacant Massachusetts state title at Quincy Youth Arena in Quincy, Mass., on May 11.
Considering O’Toole has built on a more than solid amateur innings with nine pro wins and the American has a loss on his record after just three fights, the Irish side of the fight is seen as a big favourite.
However, he has been informed by people close to him in his Braintree training camp that overlooking Kimber is dangerous.
Those who have sparred O’Toole’s tenth career opponent have warned he will be game and aggressive at the very least.
“I want to add this Massachusetts title and keep pushing,” the stylish southpaw said. “The plan is to have two big fights after this fight. He [Kimber] doesn’t have too many fights, but he has sparred with some of my mates. He’s pretty game and will fight coming forward, and that’s good for me.”
A 2019 National Elite champ, O’Toole sold out the Leisureland venue in Salthill Galway last time out. Here he returns to his second home of Boston and is just as grateful for the support he gets Stateside.
His training camp has also taken place out in America and while he is fond of his Celtic Eagles base, O’Toole suggests he gets better by way of sparring across the Atlantic.
“My fight in Galway was amazing, the best of my life, because it was my homecoming. But the Irish here have come out to support me and Boston is my second home. I had a great coach and good boxers in Galway, but I knew I needed to make a bit of a change. You can’t get good sparring there like I can here. So, I moved.”
O’Toole works under Mark “Bazooka” DeLuca, a former middleweight of note, when in America, and likes how the relationship works.
“I’m so happy I made the link with Mark DeLuca,” O’Toole noted. “I don’t think a lot of people know how good a coach he is. I have more of a pro style than I had before he started training me. He has shown me how to use range and stay composed. Mark has really developed me to control the ring and improve my ringmanship.”
