Owen O’Neill still open to Belfast v Dublin ‘Cracker’
Owen O’Neill [9-0] says he has no problem rescheduling the ‘battle of the gingers’.
‘The Operator’ was initially scheduled to fight Martin Quinn [3(1)-2(0)] in what became an extremely anticipated Belfast versus Dublin clash set for last Saturday’s MHD promoted TG4 broadcast fight night.
However, the fight wasn’t sanctioned by the board and O’Neill fought former Scottish Champion Marek Laskowski in a welterweight six-rounder on terrestrial tv instead. The fight still entertained and ‘Triple O’ moved to within one win of double figures with another progressive performance.
Still, the undefeated Dee Walsh trained, O’Neill remains all Irish keen and is more than open to fighting Quinn in the future. In fact, the MHD fighter reckons a title could be on the line if it were made again.
“I think we could get it sorted again and maybe get the Celtic title on the line this time,” O’Neill told Irish-boxing.com.
“We all know it’s gonna be a cracking fight, He thinks he will win and I think I’ll win. It makes for a great fight, a cracker for the tv and fans.”
"I've got everything going for me and the future is bright"
— Spórt TG4 (@SportTG4) September 24, 2022
Comhghairdeas le Owen O'Neill, an bua tuillte aige anocht!@tripleoooboxing
BEO/LIVE AR @TG4TV pic.twitter.com/XKeRp4OwqA
It’s understood the BUI wanted Quinn to get a win before he stepped up to domestic level and were concerned because he’d only fought once in the last 16 months, not to mention that fight was a defeat.
Irish-boxing.com hears the Dubliner, who was very confident of defeating O’Neill, could get that fight and win on November 19 in Dublin, and then the path would be clear for the fan-friendly bout.
‘Tripple O,’ who showed further improvements and flirted with stopping the former Scottish champ on the weekend, admits he was upset the fight fell through.
“Was absolutely gutted when I heard it was off, especially after what happened to me with the [Jordan] Latimer fight. I was thinking there was no way another big fight like this is gonna fall through but it did. It was completely out of me and Marty’s hands we both wanted to fight each other but the board didn’t pass it for some reason madness.”
MHD stable mate Owen Duffy, who won the battle of Cavan, stopping Dominic Donegan on the same card, has been mentioned as a potential future foe but it’s been operation transformation for ‘The Operator’ in recent months and he is working his way down the weight classes.
A clash with Quinn would fit perfectly onto the Colm Murphy – Liam Gaynor Europa Hotel bound November 26 card. However, that might prove too soon for Quinn in particular, meaning Mark Dunlop may consider it as an early 2023 bill topper.
Photo Credit Belfast Boxers
