Paul McCloskey has big plans for 2008 but they will all amount to nothing if he can’t get past Mexican dangerman Manuel Garnica at the Ladbrokes.com Fight Night at the University Sports Arena, Limerick on February 2nd.
Unbeaten in 14 pro fights McCloskey enjoyed an excellent 2007 racking up 6 straight wins and picking up the IBF International Light Welterweight title in the process.
For 2008 the classy southpaw is setting his sights on European and even World honours but for the moment his only focus is on Garnica.
The Guadalajara native is well used to upsetting the applecart having previously beaten former world champions Carlos Maussa and Gabriel Ruelas. His win over Maussa came just after the Colombian had lost his IBF world title to Ricky Hatton in 2006.
Garnica’s next fight should have seen him score another upset win but the judges cruelly denied him what seemed to be a clear cut victory over highly rated light welterweight Juan Lazcano.
Garnica suffered a similar injustice in 1999 when he suffered another controversial points defeat to another former world champion, John John Molina. That setback led him to quit the sport in disgust but he returned to the sport just over 3 years ago and he believes he can still get to the very top.
The 33-year-old said, “McCloskey might think I am finished but I still believe I can win a world title. I am more dedicated than ever now. Everybody knows I definitely beat Lazcano in his backyard. After the fight he came into my dressing room and said, ‘if the fight would have been in Mexico, you would have won.’
Garnica insists that he does not have a typical Mexican style and believes that the scheduled 10 rounder will prove a step too far for McCloskey. “I’m a slick boxer who loves to drive opponents crazy by making them miss and then taking advantage of their mistakes. McCloskey has a good record but I do not think he has fought anybody like me before. This is a great opportunity for me and I plan to make the best of it.’’
However despite Garnica’s confidence it’s unlikely that he will have ever come across someone like McCloskey. The Derry man’s nonchalant style belies a focus and destructive power that accounted for Olympic silver medallist and former European champ Tontcho Tontchev in his last outing.
In fact McCloskey’s friend and fellow county man John Duddy probably summed it up best. “Paul looks like he has only two gears, slow and stop. He’s so relaxed in there you get the impression that he could fall asleep and he’s always been that way right since we were coming up together as kids in the amateurs.
“He’s impossible to hit and he’s had some great wins recently. He seems to be really sitting down on his shots now and getting power behind them and it’s great o see him doing so well.”
The Ladbrokes.com Fight Night on February 2nd is headlined by local hero Andy Lee’s 10 round International contest against Argentinean Alejandro Gustavo Falliga. The card also features Matthew Macklin in another scheduled 10 rounder against Frenchman Christophe Karagoz. Irish champions Jason McKay and Ciaran Healy also feature alongside undefeated Mayo prospect, Michael Sweeney.
The event will be televised live on RTÉ TWO.
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