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Irish boxer to wear most bizarre shorts for big Belfast bout


Fight shorts offer boxers the chance to express themselves and exhibit a bit of pizzaz.

From tassles, to silk, to diamonds, to snakeskin, many fighters look to stand out but none moreso than Belfast light welter Tyrone McKenna [16(6)-0-1].

The Lenadoon southpaw fights tomorrow night at the Odyssey Arena, challenging for the WBO Inter-Continental title and will do so with the faces of Carl, Christine, Carla, and Rossa Frampton adorning his shorts.

In what could be described as a dare that has gotten out of hand, ‘The Jackal’ has ‘sponsored’ McKenna £1,000 in return for the Frampton family portrait taking pride of place on ‘The Mighty Celt’s’ shorts.

shorts

What’s more, McKenna has ended up fighting one of Frampton’s gym-mates!

While the deal was initially done for the 28-year-old to wear the Frampton-ized shorts for his clash with Phil Sutcliffe Jr, the Dubliner’s withdrawal and subsequent replacement by Jack Catterall [21(12)-0] means that McKenna is boxing one of Frampton’s training partners from Jamie Moore’s VIP Gym in Manchester.

While the shorts are all fun and games, the fight itself is a potential life-changer for McKenna. A big underdog, should he overcome WBO #5 Catterall there is the potential for massive fights – such as the outspoken Ohara Davies or even world champion Maurice Hooker.

The fight tomorrow night, one of a number of strong match-ups on the Mick Conlan Homecoming undercard, is being shown live on BT Sport and BoxNation as well as on the ESPN+ app in America – meaning that hundreds of thousands will witness McKenna’s peculiar shorts

Photo Credit: Ricardo Guglielminotti – The Fighting Irish (@ThefIrish)

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Joe O'Neill

Reporting on Irish boxing the past five years. Work has appeared on irish-boxing.com, Boxing News, the42.ie, and local and national media. Provide live ringside updates, occasional interviews, and special features on the future of Irish boxing. email: joneill6@tcd.ie

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