Belfast's Damaen Kelly can become the Lord of the Flies before the summer is out, believes manager Frank Maloney. Obviously Kelly cannot collect the major world belts in that short timescale, but Maloney is purely emphasising the quality he sees in his Irish prodigy.
Cuts, though, are the worry, and that will be a threat in the Ulsterman's IBO flyweight title defence against Mexico's Paulino Villalobos at London's York Hall tonight. “It is a good developing fight for Damaen,” said Maloney. “It will help him mature as he gets ready to take on the best in the world. In the next six months, I think he will go on to prove he's the best 8st fighter in the world.”
“I've always considered him one of the few British fighters among the very best at their weight in the world. But cuts have been a problem with Damaen. But like other great fighters who have the same problem, he has to learn to live with them. They are a hazard of the trade.”
A WBU title bid against Liverpool's Peter Culshaw in Belfast in April is the prize for Kelly if he can get past what amounts to a mystery man from Vera Cruz. Kelly's trainer Michael Hawkins tried in vain to acquire a tape of Villalobos and admitted they were in the dark about the fighter who will be coming out of the other corner intent on an upset.
Hawkins, who trained Kelly towards the 1996 Atlanta Olympics at Belfast's Holy Trinity Club, said: “I expect we will see in the first two rounds what Villalobos has to offer. We are certainly not taking anything for granted. You have to take the view that Villalobos has been given a chance to make a name for himself.”
“We don't know anything about him. We tried to get a tape, but it's been impossible. We will have to be careful. There's a lot riding on this. We will definitely not be taking him lightly and if things go right for us here, then we are still looking at Belfast and Culshaw in April.”
Filed by Sinéad Kissane
