While Andy Lee’s bout with reigning French and European Union Middleweight Champ Affif Belghecham will be the main focus of attention on this Saturday’s Yanjing Fight Night at the University Sports Arena, two other Limerick boxers will be looking to make it a memorable occasion for the city’s fight fans.
Lee is bidding to take another step towards World and European titles by leapfrogging Belghecham who is rated above him in both ratings.
Meanwhile, on the undercard, fellow Limerick men Jamie Power and Willie Casey will look to progress their own pro careers in front of a hometown audience.
Power will be looking to bounce back from the first defeat of his career which he suffered in an all Irish battle with Michael Sweeney on the undercard of Bernard Dunne’s World title defeat at The O2 in September.
Power said: ‘It was hugely disappointing to suffer my first defeat on such a big stage and the fact that it was shown on RTÉ as well meant an awful lot of people got to see it.
‘I’d had six good wins as a pro going into that fight and I was confident but I got caught with a good shot early on and the game plan went out the window then.
‘I actually felt like I was coming back into it but then I suffered a cut over my left eye and to be fair the doctor had no choice but to stop it.
‘I want to prove to the Limerick people that I’m better than the guy they watched on the telly recently. I’ve my sights set on winning the Irish title next year and this is the first step in that plan.’
Shannonsider Willie ‘Big Bang’ Casey remains unbeaten as a professional having scored his second pro win at the National Stadium in Dublin last month.
The 27-year-old featherweight will look to make it a hat-trick of wins on Saturday night when he faces English opposition in the shape of Middlesbrough’s Michael O’Gara.
The undercard also features Mayo light heavyweight John Waldron. The last time the Ballyhaunis native stepped in to a ring in Limerick was actually against Andy Lee in the Limerick man’s last ever amateur fight prior to his pro debut in 2005.
Another man with Irish title aspirations is Irish-Canadian middleweight Matt O’Brien.
O’Brien boasts an impressive record of 17 wins from his 18 pro outings and will look to impress in Limerick as he eyes showdowns with the likes of Jim Rock, John Duddy, Matthew Macklin and even home town favourite Andy Lee.
