Former MMA heavy and fellow unbeaten prospect next for Niall Kennedy
Nial Kennedy wil fight a fellow undefeated heavyweight prospect on the big Billy Joe Saunders versus Demetrius Andrade WBO middleweight title fight at the TD Garden in Boston on Saturday October 20th.
The Matchroom USA bill, which will be shown on DAZN in America and Sky Sports on this side of the Atlantic, also features a title defence for Wicklow lightweight Katie Taylor who puts her WBA and IBF belts on the line versus Cindy Serrano and an IBF world title challenge for Belfast’s James Tennyson.
Kennedy adds further Irish interest further down the card and the Wexford heavyweight has been handed a chance to further impress Boston fight fans aswell the TV public as he has been handed a stiff test.
‘Boom Boom’ will take on ‘Brutal’ Brendan Barrett in what is rumoured to be an IBA American title defence
Barrett comes to the ring undefeated having won seven and drawn two of his fights to date. The 5’11 puncher also has MMA experience and is renowned for being teak tough. The Philly fighter has entered the Octagon on no fewer than 18 occasions winning 10 of those clashes.
The level of boxing opponent he has faced doesn’t compare to the Pascal Collins trained Murphy’s heavyweight, but he is said to be durable and game.
A big 2017 for the Garda Kennedy saw him win the Massachusetts and New England titles with brilliant performances versus Jaime Barboza and Alexis Santos, stopping the former and scoring upset points win over the latter. These results saw him both earn a contract with Murphys Boxing and be recruited for sparring with the Matchroom crown jewel – unified heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua.
However, he goes into his fight next month off the back of his first pro setback. Back in June the Irishman was held to a dubious draw by Joel Caudle and he will be keen to make amends here.
