Brian Peters Boxing: O’Brien Looking To Rock The Irish Middleweights

Irish – Canadian middleweight Matt O’Brien is hoping to upstage local hero Andy Lee when he has his first professional outing in Limerick on Saturday’s Yanjing Fight Night at the University Sports Arena.

Lee’s clash with reigning French and European Union Champion Affif Belghecham headlines the event with O’Brien featuring on the undercard. While Irish fight fans are familiar with current Irish middleweight stars such as Andy Lee, Matthew Macklin, John Duddy and Jim Rock the name Matt O’Brien may not be as instantly recognisable but he believes all that is about to change.

O’Brien boasts an impressive resume of 17 wins from his 18 professional contest and on Saturday night he will aim to add to that record against Cameroon’s Jean Rodrigue Kamdoum in a bout that will be shown live on Canadian network, Super Channel (from 5.30pm ET in Canada).

O’Brien hopes that the fight will set him on a collision course with Ireland’s leading middleweight’s and he’s already targeting a clash with Jim “The Pink Panther” Rock.

“To be honest he’s the guy I really have my sights set on right now. There’s something about him just makes me want to bash him up. Maybe it’s his pink shorts but for my money he just seems to cherry pick easy fights for himself and then go around calling himself an ‘Irish Champion’.

“If Rock has the courage to step in to the ring with me I will knock him out and retire him for good so that he can concentrate on selling cars full time!”

O’Brien is a little more respectful of his U.S. based Irish middleweight rivals such as Lee and John Duddy. “I’ve watched Andy Lee fight and I think that would be a great challenge for me,” revealed O’Brien.

“He’s tall and has a long reach and he’s scored some impressive knockouts. We both have almost identical records in the pro’s and we both have something to prove so I’m looking forward to seeing him up close this weekend.

“John Duddy is another tough Irish middleweight and my style is quite similar to his. If we were to fight it would definitely make for one exciting fight for the fans to say the least so that’s another fight I’d relish.”

O’Brien has more than a fighting style in common with Duddy. He also shares a common opponent in big punching Walid Smichet. The Canadian based Tunisian KO’d O’Brien in the tenth and final round of their St. Patrick’s day weekend encounter in 2007 before going on to drop a controversial majority decision to Duddy less than 12 months later.

O’Brien has been out of the ring since that defeat but he claims he now has a renewed focus for the sport and has taken on board the hard lesions learned against Smichet.

“Up until that point in my career I had never even been knocked down and I went into that fight thinking I never would be,” said O’Brien. “I made the mistake of blindly going for a knock out in the last round, even though I was way ahead and winning on all the judges’ score cards.

“I just got caught by a big punch. I momentarily lost focus after boxing Smichet’s ears off for nine and a half rounds but we all know how tough and dangerous a warrior Walid is. I watched him beat Duddy from pillar to post after that and he was very unlucky not to get the decision.

“The defeat taught me that I need to take my time in the ring. I know I have the skills to outbox anyone, but I think my Irish blood tells me to go to war every time. So I just need to take the lessons learned in that fight and bring that in to my future fights.

O’Brien says he’s delighted to be resuming his career by making his first professional appearance in Ireland. “It’s really exciting to be going back to my roots and my family is really proud that I’m going to be fighting in Ireland. We’re family that’s always kept our Irish heritage and values close to our hearts. It’s always been a big part of who we are.

“I consider Canada to be one of the best countries in the World to live in, and it’s very unique in that it allows people to keep their heritage and culture alive and that’s a wonderful thing. My family was forced to leave their home in County Cork generations ago but I’m really looking forward to coming home and proving my fighting Irish spirit.”

O’Brien recently inked a promotional contract with Adam Harris of Hennessy Sports Canada and it already seems to have added new impetus to his pro career. “My friends and fans are all rallying behind me, they are just thrilled that this fight and all my future fights will be televised live in Canada on Super Channel.

“They have already been calling and emailing me to say that they have ordered the network so even though I’ll be on the other side of the Atlantic they’ll be able to tune in and see me in action.”

Limerick duo Jamie Power and Willie Casey will join O’Brien on the undercard to Lee V Belghecham alongside Lee Murtagh and John Waldron who will also feature.

Doors open at the University Arena from 6pm with the first bout at 7:20. Fans wishing to catch all the action from the crucial World Cup play off from Croke Park between Ireland and France will also be catered for with the game shown live on the big screens at the arena on what promises to be a massive night of sport in Limerick.

RTÉ TWO’s live coverage of the event begins at 10:30 directly after their broadcast from Croke Park.

Tickets for the Yanjing Fight Night priced from €40 are available from Ticketmaster (phone 0818 719 300 or visit ticketmaster.ie), The George Boutique Hotel in Limerick and all usual outlets.