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‘If I didn’t think I was good enough I would pack it in’ – Geraghty confident he will reach the top

Declan Geraghty [19(4)-4(3)] is ready to show people why he has the confidence to self hype even after defeat, by grasping another breakthrough chance next week.

‘Pretty Boy’ suffered defeat in what was deemed his fourth chance to prove himself an elite operator and kick on to the next level when he was stopped by Marco McCullough live on ESPN+ at the Ulster Hall in May.

The defeat had some questioning where the Dubliner, who was once seen as potential Bernard Dunne-style Dublin boxing revolution leader, would go next.

Indeed after two defeats to Jono Carroll, an Irish title reverse suffered at the gloves of James Tennyson, and the McCullough stoppage loss, some wondered as to whether the southpaw would fight on.

It has to be noted that other fans pointed out the slick operator was doing well in all the match ups bar the one-sided ‘King Kong’ rematch.

Either way the only opinion which matters to the 29-year-old is his own – and he is taking a cream always rises to the top view with regard to this career.

Geraghty, who got the fight he called for via Irish-boxing.com and challenges WBO European super-featherweight ranking title Archie Sharp [16(8)-0] live on BT Sport on September 27, is adamant he will start showing just how talented he is later this month.

“I have been knocking on the door for long enough and I believe the time is now,” he said.

“If I didn’t think I was good enough and just believed my own hype I would pack it in, but everyone who knows me can see how good I am.”

“I haven’t done half of what I can do. I see what I can do in sparring. I believe I can achieve good things and much more.”

For a fighter some dismiss as flash Geraghty has shown fighting spirit on more than occasion in his career and deserves credit for putting his reputation on the line with another risky fight next week.

The fighter himself believes he will be rewarded for his persistence when he takes on the English star on the undercard of Daniel Dubois and Ghana’s Ebenezer Tetteh vacant Commonwealth heavyweight title fight.

“You can knock on the door so many times. Eventually it has to be answered and opened at some stage,” he adds before rationalizing his career defeats.

“It is not frustrating going so close in big fights because Tennyson and Carroll were two fellas who fought for world titles.”

“The McCullough fight I was winning handily and he caught me with a shot from God. He didn’t even believe he could do that.”

“Marco and Tennyson got lucky in my opinion. Jono did beat me in our second fight and the first one against him when I was disqualified I don’t count as a loss.

“I have had enough setbacks, but I keep knocking on the door believing I can do things.”

Photo Credit: Ricardo Guglielminotti – The Fighting Irish (@ThefIrish).

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