Under pressure – Dylan Moran admits York Hall 4 rounder was big fight for him personally

It was a fight arranged to get Dylan Moran[11(5)-1(1)] back to winning ways, away from the spotlight against an opponent he was always meant to beat, but the Waterford man admits he felt more pressure than ever ahead of Saturday’s win.

Moran had seen his duck egg broken in dramatic fashion over the Summer when he was stopped by Dennis Okoth on his American debut.

The 24-year-old tried hard not to let the defeat effect his outlook negatively, but had his faith in the game seriously tested when two subsequently arranged fights were cancelled late in the day.

Those cancellations prevented Moran from putting the defeat behind him and allowed a whole new fan narrative build around his career – and as a result he felt the pressure build.

He spoke positively going into his clash with Michael Likalu in the York Hall this Saturday, but speaking to Irish-boxing.com after admitted there were serious nerves going into the four rounder.

“There was some added pressure this time round. You know I think the defeat in America made everyone more interested and the support I got last week had come from all over, it was crazy and it just got me a little bit,” he added before suggesting the BIG NEWS he previously eluded to may have played a part.

” I know it wasn’t a big fight, but we knew nothing about the guy and have something in the pipeline that wouldn’t be happening unless we won.”

The there was an increase in pressure Moran is adamant there was never a drop in confidence. He claims knowing the mistakes he made against the big punching Olympian, Denis Okoth allowed him to look at the fight logically rather than emotionally.

The Deise fighter also believes the lessons learnt from that reverse can only stand to him.

“I should of never lost to Denis Okoth he won on the night, but I lost for all the wrong reasons. It took me to get knocked out to make the changes that I knew need to be made. In a way it’s the best thing that ever happened. My confidence wasn’t hurt by the loss whatsoever because I know why it happened,” he adds before stressing he is still delighted to have put some daylight between him and that Summer defeat.

“I am delighted to put America behind me, like I said I’ve made the changes that needed to be made and now I’m feeling better and more positive about boxing and going forward then I ever have.”

Moran can build on the victory as soon as December 10. The welterweight has been handed a slot on a big card in Austria and he is looking forward to ending the year with two wins in 10 days.

“Really looking forward to the fight in Austria. I’ll find out the opponent this week. It’s a VIP event in Kipsbuhel and sounds like it’s going to be a great show, one more hurdle to finish the year 12-1 and look forward to and exciting 2020.”