Owen Duffy shocked by his own power following explosive debut
From the very first exchanges on Saturday night, Antoni Hristov didn’t fancy it.
Cavan debutant Owen Duffy tore into the Bulgarian journeyman as soon as the bell rang, launching huge uppercuts and left hands, each one visibly knocking Hristov back.
Light middleweight southpaw Duffy rag-dolled Hristov around the ring at Good Counsel GAA club, eventually sending him down after a minute’s worth of heavy punches. The visitor rose but was on wobbly legs and the bout was waved off, sealing a perfect debut for the Shercock native.
Considering he is a late starter in boxing, the explosive, seamless performance from Duffy surprised many of the Irish boxing community in the crowd. Not only this, the display even shocked Duffy himself.
“I did not expect to hurt that man with that shot at all!” Duffy told Irish-Boxing.com afterwards.
“I was just letting shots go and doing what I was taught – I was shocked to see what happened, but I’m delighted.”
The full-time personal trainer, managed and coached by veteran Tony Davitt, certainly seems to pack a punch, especially in 10oz gloves.
“It’s such a nice feeling, going from the sparring gloves it’s such a nice feeling.”
“For the first time in a long time, I felt injury free and it was my first time letting my shots go.”
“Tony said to me that, if I kept training the way I training and doing what he keeps telling me to do, my biggest thing would be to staying relaxed and staying focused, not tensing up too much or thinking about my shots too much.”
“If you calm yourself, relax yourself, he says, you’ve got great power on your punches.”
‘The Butcher’ brought a large crowd with him to the Dublin venue.
“It was phenomenal,” reflected Duffy. “I knew I’d sold a lot of tickets but there was definitely more than 140 people out there supporting me.”
“It was unbelievable, an absolute dream come through. It’s something I’ve always dreamed of and, hopefully, there’s more to come.”
Photo Credit: Ricardo Guglielminotti – The Fighting Irish (@ThefIrish)
