‘The Dragon’ Joe Fitzpatrick flying again following comeback win

Joe Fitzpatrick [8(5)-0] is delighted to have returned in tough fight and is now ready to kick on in his career.

The Belfast lightweight had been out of action for eight months, and made his comeback on Saturday evening at the SSE Odyssey Arena in Belfast.

Fitzpatrick took on game Zambian Mwenya Chisanga, eventually putting away the African in the sixth round.

Against an opponent who came to win, Fitzpatrick eased his way into the contest and built momentum throughout the fight before cornering Chisanga and forcing a halt in the final round.

‘The Dragon’ was in high spirits following the win and described how “it was brilliant.”

“He was tough and kept coming forward. I was hitting him with everything, but I’m glad to be back at it and to get the rust off.”

“I thought I put on a good performance there and didn’t get hit that much.”

“I hit him with a cracking left hand in the last round and that hurt him.”

“I picked it up a wee bit after and the referee stepped in and stopped the fight.”

It was a frustrating time out for the 2014 Commonwealth Games silver medalist, and he is keen to get active/

“It was hard to see everyone else fighting and not me,” admitted Fitzpatrick. “But all you need is a good manager and hopefully with Eddie Hearn over here now I can get on these shows more.”

“Hopefully Mark [Dunlop, manager] can get me out before Christmas and hopefully next year will be a good year with no breaks.”

“Hopefully that’s me out more often now and Mark can get me sorted.”