Fitzgerald: Spike hadn’t the balls to come face to face with me at Return of the Mack press conference

ANTHONY Fitzgerald questioned Spike O’Sullivan’s ‘balls’ after his November 15 foe failed to show up for the Return Of The Mack press conference on Tuesday.

Team Spike confirmed the Cork middleweight was slightly  ill and opted against traveling to Dublin to ensure the illness doesn’t escalate.

Not one to miss a chance to land a verbal blow, Fitzgerald wasn’t accepting the sick note and indicated his middleweight rival was afraid to face him ahead of their eagerly anticipated ‘Civil War’ clash.

“I made it my business to make the press conference, I flew in from Spain and he hasn’t the balls to show up. Lets hope he turns up for the fight,” said Fitzgerald.

I think he showed disrespect to all that was there. He is  not sick and even if he was he should of been out of respect to the fan,s and boxers. I flew to Spain Sunday and came back Tuesday just to be there,” he added.

The former Irish Champion did manage to get a round of verbal sparring in with O’Sullivan’s trainer Pascal Collins, but rivalry between Ian Tims and Michael Sweeney took centre stage as the pair nearly went to work early after an agro head to head.

‘The Pride’ claims he enjoyed being a spectator rather than a participant of press conference antics.

“The Sweeney Timsy stuff was abit of craic. It was good to watch someone other than myself  go at it for a change!”