BOXING: '˜I'll be the Last Man Standing'

Sean McGlinchey is excited about fighting on the Last Man Standing tournament in Dublin next March.

DERRY middleweight, Sean McGlinchey believes participating in the exciting '˜Last Man Standing' tournament was too good an opportunity to miss.

The inaugural competition, co-promoted by Red Corner Promotions and Assassin Promotions, is the first of its kind to be held in Ireland, and will see the eight Irish middleweights go toe-to-toe for the €25,000 winner’s purse.

There will be a knockout bonus of €1,000 as well as purses for runners-up (€5,000), semi finalists (€2,000), and quarter finalists (€1,000).

However, the biggest incentive for McGlinchey was the promise of becoming mandatory challenger to ‘Cool Hand’ Luke Keeler’s Irish middleweight title!

“I’ve always said I wanted an Irish title so when I win this that puts me as mandatory and I’ll be knocking on Luke Keeler’s door looking for an Irish title shot,” said ‘Mummy’s Bhoy’.

“I will have eliminated all the other middleweights that are there. Jason Quigley is looking to fight for bigger things. Connor Coyle is going well in America. Unless Darren Cruise wants another shot then there’s nobody in my way.

“But it would be an amazing 2018 if I won the Last Man Standing and then the Irish title.

“I’ll go and win this first and then go for the Irish title. Last Man Standing is definitely going to be a chance to make my mark in the division.”

The Prizefighter-style show at the National Stadium, Dublin on March 3rd pits eight of the best Irish prospects together and McGlinchey is expecting a tough night.

Roy Sheahan (debutante), Bernard Roe (6-0), Alfredo Meli (14-0-1), Chris Blaney (9-0), Henry Coyle (19-2), Thomas Finnegan (2-0) and Padraig McCrory (2-0) make up the eight man line-up.

It offers a timely chance of revenge for McGlinchey should he meet Chris Blaney who beat him in the Irish Senior semi-finals before he made the decision to turn to the paid ranks.

Collision Course

And a collision with Padraig McCrory would certainly whet the appetite after the bad blood spilled over from when McGlinchey beat the Belfast man in the 2014 Commonwealth Games box-off.

“I’ve a bit of history with McCrory and Blayney. Myself and Blayney fought each other in the Irish Seniors - my last amateur competition. He beat me in the semi-finals of the seniors - a fight I thought I could’ve nicked.

“And people are talking about myself and McCrory having fought in the past but we might not even meet each other. It would be interesting if we did.

“But it’s of a very good standard. I’ll let the bookies name the favourites but I’ll be training hard to go on and win it.

BOXING: '˜I'll be the Last Man Standing' - insists Sean McGlinchey