‘I am not British, I’m a proud Irishman’ – Deco Geraghty puts Frank Warren straight

It’s something Irish fight and sports fans usually have to call media outlets and promoters out on, but Declan Geraghty [19(4)-4(3)] was straight in when Frank Warren tried to claim him for the British Isles at a press conference in London on Tuesday.

The veteran promoter, who works closely in Belfast with MTK and Top Rank, was discussing the intriguing clash between Dublin’s Geraghty and England’s Archie Sharp when he started to discuss the domestic super featherweight scene in Britain.

The Queensbury boss was implying the victor of Friday nights ranking title fight, which plays out live on BT Sport, would want to go on and prove they are ‘the best of the Brits’.

‘Prettyboy’ wasn’t afraid to pipe up and quickly jumped in to inform the promoter he is Irish not British and as such doesn’t have any ‘best of the Brits’ ambitions.

Interestingly enough the southpaw did go on to say he hopes Warren has alternative plans for him, which suggests not only is he confident of victory, but that he wants a promotional alignment with the veteran fight making.

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“I’m not British, I’m a solid proud Irish man”
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Watch this Irishman take your boys belt @frankwarren_tv on Friday pic.twitter.com/c8LSfDedlv

— Declan Geraghty (@Deco_Gero) September 24, 2019

Warren to his credit did note the error quickly and claimed he was just about to correct himself.

British media claiming Irish sports stars as their own has been a bug bearer for Irish sports fans over the years. Sky Sports have on more than one occasion tried to do as much with Katie Taylor, but have refrained from making the error of late due to a massive social media backlash.

The Dublin southpaw will face Archie Sharp [16(8)-0] at the Royal Albert Hall live on BT Sport on the undercard of Daniel Dubios’ Commonwealth title fight and Nicola Adams first world title fight.

‘Pretty Boy’ was last seen outpointing journeyman Naheem Chaudhry, but his last meaningful outing was a dramatic stoppage defeat to Marco McCullough at the Ulster Hall.

Similar step up domestic defeats to Jono Carroll and James Tennyson were made easier to take by the fact both went on to challenge for a world title, but it was feared the McCullough defeat and the manner in which it was inflicted could prompt the Dubliner to call it a day.

However, that clearly wasn’t the case and the EU silver medallist secured the fight he called for via Irish-boxing.com as recent as July – and he now has the chance to kick his career onto the next level on a high profile TV card.

Photo credit Ricardo Guglielminotti @fightingirish