Promoter’s son to turn pro and debut on Fury card

It has been confirmed that the son of promoter Mick Hennessy is to turn professional.

Michael Hennessy Jr has had his move into the pros confirmed at the age of just 19 and will debut later this month.

The rangy middleweight was born in England but boxed frequently in Ireland, fighting out of the St Monica’s club in Newry.

With family in Dublin, Ballymena, and Wexford, Hennessy’s Irish link is strong and he won county and provincial titles as well as boxing on the national scene.

The pro-styled teenager has been long-mooted to be moving into the pros and, last year, informed Irish-Boxing.com that he will be a multi-weight world champion.

READ: Irish-Boxing.com interview with Michael Hennessy Jr

Hennessy will make his debut on the undercard of Hughie Fury’s clash with Chris Norrad on May 25th at the Victoria Warehouse in Manchester, live on Channel 5.

The London-born puncher will debut over six rounds and it is his father’s intention for him to be matched progressively.

The promoter recalled how “Michael was lying in bed after his third win, aged 11, I complemented him on a brilliant performance. As I went to leave the room, he said with this huge smile ‘Dad, 3 and 0′.”

“I returned to his bedside and told him: ‘Son, in amateur boxing, there’ll be a lot of heartbreak; politics and bad decisions. Sure, I can keep you on home shows, where you won’t fight as much and we can go on a long unbeaten run or I can take you on the road where sometimes you’ll lose, other times you’ll get shafted but you’ll certainly learn to fight. What’s it to be?’  Without blinking, he replied: ‘The road, dad’.”

“Consequently, Michael has been boxing at an elite level since the beginning. He’s been very competitive his whole career against National, Commonwealth, European and World medalists, and also holds some notable wins over some of them.”

“For the pros, he’ll definitely need to tighten his defence, mind. He’s very, very aggressive if left to his own devices but I intend for Michael to have a long and successful career.”