“I am where I am at now on merit” – Cillian Reardon not bothered by constant Leinster Rugby talk

For the immediate future, every time you hear about Cillian Reardon [1(0)-0] you will be informed of his Leinster Rugby association.

The Stillorgan fighter is Head of Strength and Conditioning with the province and this has been reported on numerous times by numerous outlets (including this one).

It’s a catchy angle with clickbait capabilities but also makes the middleweight Irish title hopeful a more interesting prospect.

With so many new boxers entering the Irish pro scene, fighters across the weights and promotional companies are battling to stand out as hard as they are battling to secure wins.

The majority of the time what is done in the ring catches the eye, but a colourful narrative doesn’t half help.

The Steven O’Rourke-trained fighter, who has some Irish rugby internationals dotted around the stadium when he punched for pay for the first time on March 3rd, is aware of its advantages and certainly isn’t bemoaning his job within one of Europe’s most successful and prestigious sporting organisations – but there remains a part of him that wants to be known in boxing for his skillset and ability rather than the fact he works with Jonny Sexton et al.

Reardon, who fights at York Hall against Sean Gorman [2(2)-20(4)] tonight in his second pro fight and will return to Dublin on June 7th for the inaugural JB Promotions bill, believes he merits his pro boxing licence but knows, like any new professional, he has to earn his stripes within the ring.

“To be honest it doesn’t piss me off,” he told Irish-Boxing.com when asked about constantly being referred to as the Leinster Head of Strength and Conditioning.

“It’s the natural thing and I also get a lot of advantages from being associated with Leinster. You take the rough with the smooth in that regard but I think I am where I am at now on merit.”

“I would like people to see me as a good boxer when I am in the ring and know me for that too but it is up to me to prove what I am capable of. I think that would be the case for any fighter not just one with my associations.”

Anyone who saw the middleweight easily outpoint Istvan Orsos, a fighter who has fought as high as cruiserweight, would agree with his merit claims. The former Monkstown amateur killed any ‘gimmick’ talk with his first slip and nicely timed counter combo and had some respected boxing people talking about a prospect by the time four rounds had elapsed.

Reardon is aware there is some things to be learnt but he is eager to bank experience quickly so that he can get to Irish title level as soon as possible.

The 160lbs fighter with a bit of flair to his approach believes signing with Assassin Promotions will help in that regard.

“Bascially they have taken a bit of risk on me signing me up after just one fight and what I want is to be busy. I want to be busy to first of all build a record but also to move toward more competitive fights in as short as time as makes sense.”

“I want competitive fights in the not too distant future and they are on the same page, you heard them say it [during the press conference for ‘The Beginning’ card].”

“It is also about getting me the experience quickly so I can take those competitive fights. They have backed that up by getting me on the show in the York Hall this weekend.”

“I want to get that win in the bag and come into this show on July 7th at 2-0.”

“Boxing in Ireland seems to be gathering momentum and it is a good time to be involved in it.”

The fighter who counts the likes of Steve Collins Jr, Victor Rabei, Craig McCarthy and Tony Browne as gym mates hasn’t a set time frame as to when he would like to challenge for titles but, if kept busy, he doesn’t see why domestic honours won’t be fought for in the near future.

“Initially I got in and I said I would take it one fight at a time. I don’t know in terms of exact time frames when my time will be to be in big fights but we are working toward that goal for now.”

“I said after my first fight a realistic medium term goal would be to win the Irish title. I still think that should be the goal. I am not saying I should be jumping in with Luke Keeler right now but I don’t think that level is out of reach.”

“That belief is increased when you see what he did last weekend. You think ‘there is a guy that is going and making something happen’. I have a lot of work to do, but that is the goal.”

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