Tommy Hyde eyes up Irish title fight
Tommy Hyde set his sights on the Irish super middleweight crown after buckling the BUI Celtic title around his waist on Saturday.
Hyde claimed the aesthetically pleasing and career-enhancing strap with an extremely impressive stoppage win over now-former champion Craig McCarthy on St. Patrick’s Day Eve, outside of San Francisco at Fox Theater in Redwood City, California.
The victory means ‘The Guvenour’ returns to Cork with a title in his luggage and mandatory status for the Irish title in his back pocket.
He wants to play the mandatory card straight away and has set his sights on an Irish title fight.
“Winning the Celtic title makes me the mandatory for the Irish title and I’d love to go for that next,” Hyde said. “I want to keep picking up titles while I’m developing as a professional and the Irish title is definitely one I want around my waist.”
The BUI yesterday confirmed that Kevin Cronin and Cathal Crowley are also eligible to challenge for the strap but Hyde is first in line.
While he did look forward and set himself a new target, the 24-year-old was happy to enjoy the moment and his first title win.
“It’s always a great feeling to win but winning with a title on the line and bringing it home makes that feeling even better I’m happy with my performance. I didn’t waste any shots and felt dominant.
“It was unreal to finally fight in San Francisco. I have made a lot of friends here and made a lot more this week. I’ll definitely fight here again.”
Hyde was on top from the opening bell, dropped the Waterford fighter in the second, before hurting him at the end of rounds three and four, before he closed the show 30-seconds into round five when referee David Irvine widely halted the action.
“This was probably my best performance so far,” Hyde noted. “I fought a tough opponent and won the fight convincingly. I trained very hard for this fight, and I think that showed under the lights.”
Hyde’s father, international boxing manager Gary Hyde also claimed the Cork fighter should fight for the Irish strap next.
“I am very proud of my son Tommy’s performance on Saturday night. Tommy fought intelligently, hurting his opponent continuously before closing the show at the beginning of the fifth round. Tommy is officially the number 1 super middleweight in Ireland so the Boxing Union of Ireland will decide who he will fight for the vacant Irish Super middleweight title.”
