Limerick’s very own Prizefighter winner Willie “Big Bang” Casey, along with Cork’s Gary “Spike” O’Sullivan, will be looking to heap further misery on the French this Saturday when they clash with French opposition on the Yanjing Beer Fight Night at The Neptune Stadium in Cork.
Limerick native Casey will be having his first fight since scooping the ￡32,000 top prize at last month’s Prizefighter event in London when he takes on Parisian Faycal Messaoudene,
while O’Sullivan will have his first outing since winning the Irish title when he takes on Bordeaux’s Sylvain Touzet. Both men are confident of giving “Les Bleus” further sporting blues on Saturday.
“I’m looking forward to getting back in the ring and getting back to normal after the Prizefighter win,” said Casey who improved his perfect record to 8-0 with his thrilling wins over Prizefighter rivals, Mark Moran, Josh Wale and Paul McElhinney.
“I know I still have a lot to learn in the pro ranks but I’m willing to fight anyone,” said Casey. “The bigger the name and the bigger the reputation the bigger the challenge for me and I’m in this game to see how far I can go.”
One man who believes that Casey can go a long way is former World Champion Barry McGuigan who was ringside at last month’s Prizefighter event. “I thought Casey coped brilliantly with the format,” said McGuigan.
“He had three brutal fights but he’s a tough kid and his strength and guts earned him the win. “He’s a tough kid, a real throwback. He’s very strong, determined lad and despite coming in at the death he didn’t care about who he was fighting, his self-confidence shone through and it was definitely the best performance I’ve seen in Prizefighter, on what was the most competitive event so far too. He can go on to do some big things, no doubt about that. He’s got a good team behind him and he’s very driven.”
Cork native Gary O’Sullivan is another man hoping to go on to big things having beaten Ciaran Healy to claim the Irish Middleweight title in his last outing and he says he can’t wait to fight again in his home city. “I am very hungry to get into the ring right now,” said O’Sullivan.
”I always like to give of my best before the home fans but that’s another reason why I need to perform well in Cork. I know the Cubans are taking star billing on the night, but I am the ‘Real Rebel’ and I will have a big following.”
They will join European title contender Andy Murray and the Cork based Cuban trio of Mike “The Rebel” Perez, Luis “The Lion” Garcia and Alexei “The Hurricane” Acosta on a big night of boxing on Leeside on an event that is being billed as “The Undefeated’s” with all six boxers looking to put their perfect records on the line.
Tickets for the Yanjing Beer Fight Night priced €25 & €50 are available from Ticketmaster, all Mahers Sports Outlets, Neptune Stadum 021 4395873, The Wilton Pub 021 4344454, Patrick Thomas 087 9393586, Gary O’Sullivan 085 1789544 and Willie Casey 086 3136925.
