Dylan McDonagh planning instant impression and early all-Irish fights
He hasn’t even made his professional debut yet and Dylan McDonagh has already seen the sad side of pro boxing.
The Jobstown bantamweight was due to debut way back in April, but saw this ‘It’s A Bout Boxing Ireland’ card cancelled on the Monday of fight week. Now, this Saturday, McDonagh will finally step into the pro ring and he’s looking to get going as quickly as possible.
McDonagh features on the ‘Celtic Clash 3: Building Champions’ card at the National Stadium in a debut four-rounder and he hopes to make an early impression.
Indeed the Tallaght boxer wants to follow his fellow Irish lower weight fighters into early big fights.
Describing his already whirlwind pro career to Irish-Boxing.com, McDonagh explained how his debut cancellation “was tough for probably a week or so, then I just got stuck in, got back with Frank [Stacey, trainer], and trained even harder.”
“I think it’s going to stand me, I’m a stronger person now.”
“It’s my motivation now, to go and do a job on this guy on Saturday.”
McDonagh faces Bulgarian Georgi Andonov [3(1)-4(0)] who went the distance with another Jobstown boxer, Carl McDonald, on the last Celtic Clash card.
A durable foe, McDonagh wants to make a statement on the card which features another seven debutants.
The 32 year old Dub outlined how “I’m going to make an impression, do a good job, no messing about.”
“I just want to get this done now. Getting the debut out of the way is the most important thing.”
“I’ve got really good sparring this camp, better than the last time. I’m training twice as hard, sparring good guys like Regan Buckley and Eric Donovan.”
Chief support on the card, which is headlined by Eric Donovan v Dai Davies for the BUI Celtic title, is an all-Irish six-round super bantamweight scrap between Buckley and McDonald.
Coming from the same area as one fighter and having sparred the other, McDonagh is sat firmly on the fence.
“It’s going to be a good one. They’re two good fighters. I’m a neutral in this one!” he laughed.
McDonagh does however want to go down the same path, and with Buckley, McDonald, and even Cork’s Colin O’Donovan, there are plenty of fights out there for him.
“Definitely, I’m not here to mess about,” said McDonagh when asked about the possibility of following the Buckley v McDonald trend.
“I’m 32 now, I need to get going A.S.A.P.”
“We’ll see what happens after this.”
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Headlined by the Eric Donovan v Dai Davies BUI Celtic featherweight title fight, the ‘Celtic Clash 3: Building Champions’ card also features Regan Buckley v Carl McDonald, Gerard Whitehouse, James Cahill, Stephen McAfee, Martin Quinn, Aiden Metcalfe, Dylan McDonagh, Colin O’Donovan, Chris Mullally, Michael Gallagher, Keane McMahon, Niall O’Connor, John Joyce and Bernard Roe.
Tickets for the show cost €30 (Balcony), €40 (Gallery), €60 (Ringside), €100 (VIP Premium), and €15 (Under-15s gallery – must be bought alongside an adult ticket) and are available to buy from Dylan at 085 7721 209 or online at Ticketmaster.ie.
Photo Credit: Ricardo Guglielminotti – The Fighting Irish (@ThefIrish)
