“He wants the fight, I want the fight, so why not?” – Sheehan calls for Big Sexy Irish title fight

The next time Con Sheehan [5(1)-0] steps into an Irish ring he expects the Irish title to be on the line – and for old amateur foe Sean ‘Big Sexy’ Turner to be in the opposite corner.

Sheehan made it five fights unbeaten and completed eight rounds for the second time since turning over in Belfast on Friday night.

One of the more fluid men in the land of the giants, Sheehan wants wants to fight for the green strap.

The Tipp man knows to secure it he would most likely have to defeat the man he twice beat in amateur deciders, but is more than willing to trade leather with his old rival and long-time friend.

The Peter Fury-trained fighter first hopes to secure a clash on the undercard of his heavyweight stablemate Hughie Fury’s WBO world title clash with Joseph Parker on May 6th, but is confident he will compete in the first Irish heavyweight title fight since Tyson Fury beat Martin Rogan back in 2012 when he returns to fight at home again.

“Hopefully we get the Irish title now,” Sheehan said after his shutout defeat of Ferenc Zsalek.”

“I am looking to try and get on Hughie’s undercard in New Zealand, that would be lovely, but definitely the next one in Ireland would be the Irish title.

“That most likely means Big Sexy. It depends what happens, he might go a different route, but he said he wants the fight, I want the fight, so why not?”

The friends have had no problem trading verbals regarding the fight since it was mooted when Sheehan joined the Dub in the pro ranks – and while ‘Con the Bomb’ is confident he will inflict another defeat on ‘Big Sexy,’ he is honest enough to admit he couldn’t stand and trade blows with a puncher with a 70 percent KO ratio.

“I win it,” he said without hesitation when asked how he envisions the fight playing out.

“Don’t get me wrong, it would be a good fight, but I win. Listen you can’t mess around with Sean, If you stand and trade shots with him your going to sleep for a week.”

“The better level of opponent the better I am. I don’t think Turner could live with me if I box to my best. If he catches anyone he can do damage, you’ve seen it yourselves, he has serious punch power, but I am a lot fitter and, as I said, I win that fight.”

The 6’5″ Clonmel big man was relaxed when pushed on Turner, and wasn’t overly excited about his fifth pro win. Sheehan wasn’t getting carried away with his shut easy victory, nor was he looking to much into the fact he didn’t stop the journeyman he had issued a beating too.

Moments after a quick debriefing from the brains behind Tyson Fury’s success, Sheehan broke his Ferenc Zsalek triumph down sensibly.

“That what these fellas are here for. If I got him out in a round then I wouldn’t have learnt anything,” he continued.

“He took some serious shots. So around round five they said ‘just keep doing what you’re doing and practicing what we are doing in the gym.’ His face was all bloodied up and his body was red raw from the body shots, but he was tough.”

“He stayed in the there fair play to him. I was concentrating on punching straight with the right hand and turning it over and I probably got into autopilot mode so he knew what was coming and could brace himself for it.”

Continuing his analysis, Sheehan admitted that “everything was a bit stiff and I could have loosened up a bit, but we are getting there. It’s about getting the blend between the amateur and the pros.”

“As I said I could have got him out of there with quicker shots and a faster pace, but I have no problems doing the rounds.

“The funny thing is I could box at a higher level and get them out there. He was there to survive. He wasn’t going to take any chances, you could probably count how many punches he threw on one hand.”

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

Jamie Conlan joins Gavan Casey and Joe O’Neill for Episode 3 of The Irish Boxing Show:

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