SHANNON pro boxer David Ryan will fight for the Irish super lightweight title in December, with ‘The Machine’ set to face Kildare’s Senan Kelly.
Both fighters are undefeated, Ryan at 6-0 and Kelly at 9-0, and the fight will take place in Waterford on December 7.
It will be on a card topped by Deise fighter Dylan Moran and Belfast’s Tyrone McKenna.
It will be Ryan’s third fight of 2024, and the highlight of his career so far came in May when he picked up the BUI Celtic title, the first belt of the former kickboxer’s boxing career.
On Tuesday he said he was delighted that the Kelly fight has been locked down.
“I’m buzzing to be honest with you,” he said.
“It was hard work to get it over the line, having it on a neutral show and all of that.”
Ryan’s last victory, when he took that BUI Celtic title with a victory over Tony McGlynn, was almost overshadowed by events after the final bell.
There were chaotic scenes as McGlynn was mistakenly announced as the 78-73 victor, even though the referee had given the decision to Ryan on that score.
Afterwards he was sure he didn’t want to fight under the same conditions again.
“There has been talk about fighting Senan Kelly since my debut and I’ve always been open to it,” he said.
“With the last fight in Dublin, with what happened with the decision and all of that, I didn’t want to fight on that show again. That was the hold up, I wanted it 50-50, a neutral show for both of us. I didn’t want to be involved in those shows with that kind of carry-on any more.
“It was a mess up. Only for my team spoke up nothing would have been done about it.
“Now it’s on a 50-50 neutral show, none of us have ties to it, there’s no excuses.”
He wasn’t overly worried about winning the BUI Celtic belt, but winning the Irish title is another matter and would be significant, he feels.
“100%. It’d cap the year with a great win. It’d really push me up the rankings and there’d be bigger nights then after that,” he said.
Irish title fights are fought over ten rounds, while Ryan hasn’t gone beyond eight before.
But he is a fanatical trainer and looked energetic in the eighth against McGlynn, so he is unlikely to be too worried about taking the step to ten.
He is very familiar with Kelly and there is no animosity between the two.
“I know him fairly well. He’s a nice guy,” he said.
“He’s the same as myself, he’s in it to have big nights and it has the makings of a great fight.”
Ryan said they have sparred in the past, but he didn’t want to talk about what had happened.
“We had a good spar. I won’t bring sparring into it, sparring is a whole different thing to a fight.”
Six weeks out from the fight, he feels his preparations are going well. “I’ve been training fairly hard for the last couple of weeks, eating well. Everything is on track, everything is right.”
Almost all of his preparations will be in the club he has been developing in Smithstown. “I have the gym all finished now, and I’ll have the full camp there.”
Also fighting on the night will be Limerick’s Graham McCormack, who frequently trains with Ryan. “I sparred him there a couple of weeks ago, preparing for his fight, which fell through in the end. We’re great team mates.”
He is very conscious of the potential impact of taking the title in six weeks time. “This would be a step forward, it’d put my career going in the right direction.”
Owen Ryan has been a journalist with the Clare Champion since 2007, having previously worked with a number of other publications in Limerick, Cork and Galway. His first book will be published in December 2024.