All On The Ryan – Manager outlines title plans for ‘The Machine’
Dave Ryan is willing to solve Senan Kelly’s Irish title problem and looks like he is just two rounds shy of a shot at the green belt
Having claimed the BUI Celtic light welterweight title on ‘The Recall’ card last week, Kelly is now on the hunt for Ireland’s premier belt.
His team have made it clear that he has found it hard to get Irish opponents, something Ryan was happy to help with.
But for an eight-month layoff, the Shannon brawl-lover would have provided BUI Celtic title opposition for the Kelly last week and his manager reveals he would love to fight for the Irish title in May.
However, to be eligible, Ryan would need to have agreed to a fight over the eight-round distance.
Manager Ian Gaughran was hoping to have Ryan’s Fist of Fury fight over eight in the Europa Hotel this weekend, but could only secure a six-round slot.
Still, it shows the Munster man’s willingness and proves that his team feels he is big-fight and title-ready.
“We actually were hoping this would be an eight-round fight and Mark Dunlop was happy to facilitate it, and that would have made him eligible to potentially fight Senan Kelly for the Irish title, but it couldn’t be agreed,” Gaughran told Irish-boxing.com.
“There’s no panic and we’ll get him a shot at whoever’s in line at some stage in the Summer hopefully,” he adds before predicting a breakout year for the code crosser.
“It’s going to be a huge year for Dave and I’m buzzing to see him back.”
Its been a case of out of sight, out of mind, as hand injuries had Ryan out of the ring for eight months.
However, Gaughran assures he hasn’t been out of the gym and is confident he will make a positive second impression on fight fans when he returns to the ring against Jake Smith.
“This is almost a Dave Ryan 2.0 we’re going to see tomorrow night in Belfast, I can’t wait,” Gaughran said.
“He’s been out of the ring for eight months after having hand trouble, which he fought through and was still stealing the show despite that.
“He’s been working extremely hard and has put in the best camp of his pro career for this, so it’s going to be a brilliant performance.
“His weight has been on point all week, he’s been eating away and strong for this at 143lbs, he actually could have easily done the light welter limit but I felt there was no real need to push him all the way down for his comeback fight, but confidence is sky high and he’s been sparring out of his skin.”
