Hogan: I would love to fight Fitzgerald for the Irish title

DENNIS Hogan would drop to light middleweight and fight Anthony Fitzgerald for the Irish title at the drop of a hat.

The Hurricane has wreaked havoc since turning pro in Australia and made a third successful defence of the Australian middleweight title last Sunday. Having become the middleweight wizard of Oz the Kildare native has set his sights on becoming the light middleweight king of Ireland.

And Hogan doesn’t want the green strap handed on a plate he would like to win it by beating former top 15 fighter Anthony Fitzgerald, a fighter who has come out of fights with Andy Lee and Hassan N’Dam with massive plaudits.

“I would love to fight Anthony Fitzgerald. I would fight him at the drop of a hat at light middle and I would love that fight to be for the Irish title,” Hogan told Irish-boxing.com.

It is a statement of intent from Hogan, but while he wants to fight in Ireland for the first time and wants to do so in a significant clash he has to follow the path his team has laid out for him.

Hogan is a TV fighter Down Under and could secure PABA Continental fights, which would move him into World title reckoning, so there could be obstacles to the clash.

“I am aware of the fact my team have been working very hard behind the scenes to create big opportunities for me. Those opportunities are now presenting themselves so as long as a fight in Ireland fits in with our plans hopefully my team can make that fight happen, but it does come down to my teams decision in what’s best for my future. I would love to be able to give this fight to the Irish fight fans.”

Hogan was speaking after increasing his undefeated record to 17 thanks to points victory over ‘Big Bad’ Leroy Brown. Hogan dominated against a tough foe, but despite not forcing the stoppage the Lillywhite was more than content. He believes Brown produced a career best display and gave Hogan the kind of fight he believes will prove beneficial further down the line.

“I was delighted with the performance. I boxed very well. Leroy came to the ring very determined, hungry and fit, but I had the tools to get the job done with a 98/92 scorecard win.

” He came at me with everything and in my opinion it was Leroys best career performance. In the first six rounds I hit him with some really hard shots, and he just kept coming which was excellent for me because he forced 10 good hard rounds and that experience will stand to me very well over my next few fights. “