Hyland: Kodjo to provide a stiff but passable Casey test

Willie Casey’s faces a difficult but not an impossible come back task according to former Daniel Kodjo Sassou foe Patrick Hyland.

The Punisher fought the French based fighter in Olympia, Kensington, London in April and defeated the 31 year old in a six round contest played out before a tiny crowd.

And after having the first glove of experience of the respect 50 fight veteran the WBF featherweight believes Kodjo will provide Casey with a test, but not a test Big Bang can’t pass in Limerick on September 3.

The Tallaght star, who is tipped to progress to championship level over the next year, revealed Kodjo is teak tough and has the ring craft to trouble the Limerick super bantamweight.

However, the middle of the three champion brothers stressed the fighter who defeated is brother in the first ever all Irish European title fight all action approach should see him register his first win since his WBA interim title loss to Guillermo Ringondeaux.

“It’s a tough fight for Willie,” Hyland said of Casey’s bout with a fighter who also brought Joe Murray and Scott Quigg the distance.

“A lot depends what weight he comes in at. He came in super bantamweight for me I had to make 9 stone 2. I landed at 12 and he came in at 6 and had to wait around for him. The atmosphere wasn’t great there was only ten people in the arena. So it was a bit of a frustrating fight for me in that regard. He is very tough. He is a very tight boxer. He is strong and clever. He throws in some good shots and knows his way around the ring. He has a nice left hook to the body. It will be a good fight. I say Willie will just be about strong enough to hold him off. I see it going the distance. Kodjo might struggle with Willie’s pace if he stands toe to toe with him.”