Casey confident for Prizefighter
21 May 2010 – By Steve Wellings
Wayne McCullough may have withdrawn from the super-bantamweight Prizefighter next weekend, but there will still be plenty of interest for local fight fans with the addition of Willie Casey in his place.
The 28-year-old Limerick puncher calls himself Big Bang and has told Irish-boxing.com to expect nine minutes of non-stop aggression when he enters the ring.
I usually like to come on strong as my fights progress, admitted Willie, but my style is made for the crowds and even though the three-threes format might not suit me Im going to give it my best shot and take the chance that has been presented to me.
This is a huge chance for me, a great opportunity and the win in Canada against Canadian champion Tyson Cave pushed my name right out there. What I want is to fight the best and that can start with Prizefighter next Saturday. Its on SKY Sports with a big-time promoter; it doesnt get any better than this.
Willie had already been ticking over in training for the May 29 show proposed by DolPhil promotions, which has since been pushed back to a later date. Casey ensures us that his fitness is great and the weight is spot-on.
The official call came yesterday to confirm my place but I already had it in the back of my mind after hearing my name mentioned as a possible sub, added an excited Casey.
Its a good thing that I got the slot but I would have loved to have got in anyway and actually fought Wayne McCullough. Ive always liked Waynes style, right back to when he fought Naseem Hamed and battled with the top Mexicans, credit to him hes been a great servant to boxing and I know he would have stood toe-to-toe with me if we had fought.
Casey is all set to travel over to London for a press conference and photo shoot before heading back home and then returning to London next Wednesday or Thursday after final preparations with trainer Phil Sutcliffe.
Im going to treat my first fight like the final, going at it straight away as if its the last fight Ill have and then if I win, the same thing applies to the next one, he explained.
Esham Pickering is a former European champion so a great name to be included. I know some of the other guys by watching them on Friday Fight Night Im a great fan of boxing on a Friday.
The Irish boxers have had good luck over in this Prizefighter tournament so far; Martin Rogan won it, Coleman Barrett did well to get to the final and was winning until getting caught and Darren Corbett appeared twice in it.
With Andy Lee defeating Mamadou Thiam last week in Limerick it was perhaps surprising not to see this southpaw crowd-pleaser in action on that card.
I would have liked to have fought on the Limerick show but it was out of my hands, said Willie.
I always get a great reception at home, like I did last year when I fought Michael OGara on the last Andy Lee bill.
That matters little now that a chance to knock some heads on primetime SKY TV has come along and Willie has a message for the Irish contingent planning to support him on May 29. For a man with four knockouts out of five pro wins, dont blink perhaps?
Dont blink, yes that would be a good one, he laughs.
Just tell everybody that Im up for this and with a bit of luck I can win it and bring the trophy back home just watch out and tune in next Saturday for Prizefighter.
