Returning Rooney ready to go again and wants Ffrench rematch

Micheal Rooney takes solace from the fact he wasn’t handed a Ffrench boxing lesson last time out.

The MGM lightweight lost his unbeaten record in March when he was stopped inside the first minute of his Midlands Area title fight with Marcus Ffrench, and while he was far from happy to lose, he believes getting caught with a good shot isn’t as damaging as getting outclassed for the ten rounds.

Rooney has taken the defeat on the chin and is ready to get back to winning ways on MGM Birmingham’s first show tonight.

“If I’d have been outboxed over ten rounds [by Ffrench], then it would have been a case of he was too good for me, but that didn’t happen, he caught me early on.”

“All credit to him he landed a great shot, but this is the sport we’re in and it happens from time to time, you just have to dust yourself off and go again,” the 27 year old told Irish-boxing.com before revealing he hasn’t changed much since the surprise reverse.

“To be honest not much has changed. The camp for my previous fight went well as has this one. I’m sparring hard and enjoying my boxing, Seamus [Macklin] always makes sure the work in the gym is done, so that fight night we are ready to go.”

Rooney return is not buried down the card, but is a bill-topping clash with ultra-durable journeyman Dan Carr [3(2)-80(1)-2] and is ready to make the most of his time in the spot light.

“It’s MGM Birmingham’s first show, being a Birmingham boy it made sense for me to be somewhere towards the top of the bill. I have a lot of people coming out to support me so I want to make it an entertaining night for them.”

“My opponent comes to win, which will only bring out a much better performance from me I feel.”

The Birmingham born fighter with Dublin family links will be joined the card by the fighter that broke his duck egg. Ffrench takes part in a non-title fight on a card that also hosts Sean ‘Big Sexy’ Turner and John Hutchinson, and the significance of his presence hasn’t been lost on Rooney.

“Ffrenchy is also fighting on the night. I would relish the opportunity of a rematch.”

“At the end of the day I’m a fighter and the opportunity to avenge a loss is something all fighters would want. We will see what happens in the future, but I’m going to take every fight at a time and keep growing and developing as a fighter.”