Six rounds in Spain for new Star man

Ryan O’Rourke [3(0)-0] believes the pandemic has slowed his progression, although he will be a six round fighter by the time November hits.

The 21-year-old debuted in January and looked to be on a 2020 fight a month mission with three fights in the bank by March.

The Dubliner had a busy summer planned only for the pandemic to hit and believes he could have had six pro fights to his name but for lockdown.

The St Michael’s Inchicore graduate finally gets to fight for a fourth time when he travels to Spain for a September 11th clash – and will progress to six rounds nine months after debuting.

“[The pandemic] has slowed me down quite a bit actually, I was hoping to get 5 or 6 before July and then taking a short break , so it has stalled me a bit.

“I didn’t set out with the goal to be Ireland’s busiest pro , but I did set out with the goal to get as many fights out in a year as possible and to just learn and gain as much experience as possible in my first year as a pro,” O’Rourke told Irish-boxing.com.

O’Rourke will step it up in terms of the experience stakes next months and will also be eligible for eight round title fights as he moves up to six relatively early.

“It’ll be my first 6 rounder so it’ll be something new , I’m just looking to out and enjoy it,” he continues before revealing he doesn’t know too much about opponent Sonni Martinez [1(0)-3(0)].

“I haven’t really looked at him much to be honest, I’ve been more concentrating on bettering myself and just be the best possible me come September 11th.”

As well secure himself a rare fight date considering the times we are in, O’Rourke has become the latest from his gym to sign for Star Boxing.

The young prospect joins Victor Rabei and Tony Browne on the books of the Joe Deguardia run promotional outfit.

Discussing the move O’Rourke, who is trained by his father, revealed he will have three American fights a year.

“It came about around after my second fight through my manager Conor Slater,” he says explaining the link up.

“Obviously Victor [Rabei] is signed with Star Boxing and Conor has worked with them and he had the connections stateside, so it was really through him that I got this move,” he adds before revealing the Star plan.

“The plan is to have 3 fights a year state side on star boxing shows and hopefully move fast and start to get ranked. It means I’ll be state side for 3 fights but I still plan on fight over in the UK as well and getting as many fight in as possible.”