Tommy McCarthy needs Rematch Revenge to allow Belfast Dreams to Come True
Tommy McCarthy [18((0-3(1)] believes he will be back in Belfast bill topping contention after he regains the European title this weekend.
‘The Mac Attack’ looked on the verge of some big nights back home after he became Ireland’s fifteenth European champion back in 2020.
With a Matchroom deal in his back pocket and managerial and promotional stablemate James Tennyson doing well, Eddie Hearn appeared primed for a return to a city he hasn’t promoted in since he put on Ryan Burnett versus Zhanat Zhakiyanov in 2017.
However, defeat to Chris Billam Smith [14(10)-1] in Fight Camp derailed these plans. Hearn is still Belfast keen but has been exploring the option of bringing Caoimhin Agyarko back as a headline act, although he has been clear the light middleweight needs a little more building and a big fight to come home for.
If McCarthy regains the European strap in Manchester this Saturday he believes he will be close to a world title shot and thus could persuade Matchroom back to the fight capital of Ireland.
“I win the European title back and I’m back up there for a world title, so I definitely can be a Belfast bill topper. As long as I keep winning I’ll get the opportunities.” McCarthy told Irish-boxing.com.
McCarthy first has to get revenge over the Shane McGuigan trained cruiserweight on the undercard of Conor Benn’s latest fight, something he is confident of doing.
“This time I win convincingly” he adds quite matter of factly before claiming the defeat was a real setback.
“The loss stalled the progress my career was making.”
8pm tonight! “Run it Back!” @MatchroomBoxing @DAZNBoxing 🥊 pic.twitter.com/YiVZEjQjls
— Tommy McCarthy (@Tommymac90) April 10, 2022
McCarthy believes he won the first encounter but is as disappointed in himself as the scoring stressing he allowed the fight to be close by underperforming.
“I watched the fight back once. It was so frustrating to watch back. I thought I won by two rounds. I was disappointed in my performance. I made things difficult for myself in there.”
The frustration of the Fight Camp fight won’t carry over to this Saturday’s Manchester Arena hosted, DAZN broadcast bout assures the Oliver Plunkett’s graduate.
McCarthy claims his focus is all on Saturday and securing the win he believes is there for him if he produces his best.
“I’m going into the rematch with a clean slate. Forget about what happened before and just produce my best on the night and it will be enough to win.”
