Brian Peters Boxing: Tyson Fury Added To Dublin Undercard

Unbeaten heavyweight sensation Tyson Fury will make his Irish debut at The O2, Dublin on Saturday week on the undercard of the Hunky Dorys World Title Fight night.

Fury will feature as a special attraction on the undercard of Bernard Dunne’s first defence of his WBA World Super Bantamweight title against number one contender Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym.

The 6 foot 9 inch Fury is fresh from the eighth straight win of his pro career, a 10 round points win over leading British heavyweight John McDermott last weekend and he says he’s fighting fit for his Dublin date.

“I can’t wait to fight at The O2,” revealed Fury. “I was ringside there when Bernard won the World title in March and what a night that was. The atmosphere was incredible, I don’t think I’ve ever experienced anything like it so I’m really looking forward to boxing there myself now and putting on a show for the Irish fans.

“I had hoped to fight for the Irish heavyweight title on the show but nobody seems to want to fight me for it. I’m very proud of my Irish roots and I represented Ireland as an amateur on a few occasions so it would be great to win the Irish title as a pro.

“My dad was born in Tuam and my grandmother on my mum’s side was a Tipperary woman. In fact myself and Andy Lee are actually second cousins – his Granny and my Granny were sisters.”

The Hennessy Sports promoted Fury only turned pro last December but is already one of the most talked about heavyweight prospects in recent years having already racked up eight straight wins with seven of those coming via knockout.

He was forced to go the distance for the first time last weekend with McDermott and he admits that it was not his best performance.

“I wasn’t happy with my performance against McDermott,” said the Manchester based Fury. “My preparation for the fight wasn’t too clever. I haven’t been able to get good sparring over in England so for the McDermott fight I actually did some sparring in Ireland and Germany. To be honest I probably overdid the sparring and ended up doing too much in Germany.

“I was sparring between 8 and 10 rounds every day which in the long term will stand to me because it was great experience but it meant that by the time I got in the ring with McDermott I was missing the snap that you need in your punches.

“I still thought I won the fight pretty comfortably though and I know a lot of people who were at the fight saw it that way as well but the commentary on TV made it sound a lot closer than it was. I think if you watch the fight back with the sound off it becomes a completely different fight. In my opinion the commentary was terribly biased towards McDermott.

“I’ve watched it back on tape a few times and I thought I won it by 6 rounds to 3 with one even. I certainly wasn’t happy with my own performance because it was the worst of me and the very best of John McDermott on the night.

“I think I did prove however that I have the chin, stamina and heart for the game even though I didn’t show any of my talent on the night. I had him going in the last two rounds though and had it been a 12 round fight I believe I’d have stopped him because he had nothing left at that point.”

Fury aims to be in top form in Dublin and says he will dedicate his performance to the memory of the late Darren Sutherland. “It’s come as a complete shock to everyone in boxing. To think that Darren was at my fight last weekend and now he’s no longer with us. He came across as a really nice lad and it looked like he was really going to do big things in the pro game. He’s a real loss to Irish boxing and my heart goes out to his family.

Promoter Brian Peters also paid tribute to Sutherland saying, “It’s been a very difficult week for the sport with Darren’s passing. He had the charisma and ability to become a huge star and it’s a tragedy beyond comprehension that such a shining light has been extinguished. My thoughts are with his friends and family who have lost a son, a brother and a friend and we’ll certainly be looking to mark his passing by paying tribute to him at The O2 next weekend.

Bernard Dunne headlines the Hunky Dorys World Title Fight Night at the O2 on Saturday, September 26th while unbeaten Cavan star Andy Murray will defend his European Union Lightweight title against former Italian Champ Pasquale Di Silvio in the chief supporting contest.

Reigning Irish Welterweight champion, Stephen Haughian will also feature on an action packed card alongside two of Dublin’s favourite fighting sons with current Irish and IBF International Featherweight champ Patrick Hyland and former Irish Lightweight champ Oisin Fagan featuring in separate bouts. The undefeated Hyland will face former Commonwealth title challenger David “Silent Danger” Kiilu.

Tickets for the Hunky Dorys World Title Fight Night are priced from €50 and are available from Ticketmaster (phone 0818 719 300 or visit ticketmaster.ie). Tickets are also available from Ticketmaster outlets nationwide.