Aodhán ready for fight three as he steps up the ranks
Aodhán Byrne's has his third professional fight this weekend in Donegal
Undefeated Kilcullen boxer, Aodhán Byrne, will have his third professional fight when he steps into the ring to take on Mexican fighter, Benito Sanchez Garcia in a six-round contest on the “Rumble in the Hills 3” Card organised by former Irish Professional Boxer, Jason Quigley in the Aura Leisure Complex, in Letterkenny on Saturday night. Byrne began his professional career with a win over Marian Wesolowski in Finn Valley Centre, Ballybofey in February and followed that up with another win this time over Brazilian Jonatas Gomes de Oliveira in Leopardstown Race Course Pavillion at the end of May Saturday night’s fight will be a step up in class and in distance as 23-year-old Byrne will fight over six rounds for the first time against a seasoned campaigner with 45 fights under his belt.
Preparations have been going well for Byrne as he told The Kildare Nationalist this week before travelling up to Donegal on Thursday. Donegal is like a home from home for the likable Kilcullen man as his mother Sinead is a native of the county and the young Byrne would have spent a lot of time there with his grandparents in Ballybofey.
“I’ll stay in my granny’s on Thursday night but move into an Airbnb before the fight but I’ll be looking forward to her fry on Sunday morning,” he laughed.
Byrne fought with an ankle injury for the May fight and took some time off to fully recover before returning to prepare for his latest camp in earnest about ten weeks ago.
“To be honest I just stay ready for these fights,” he explained.
“I have been quite fit all the way through because I was one of Gary's (Cully) main training partners for his fight in August so that kept me sharp,” he added.
The Kilcullen boxer has had to prepare differently for Saturday’s fight as he told us.
“This is my first six rounder, so it's just about getting the pace differently and growing into a fight rather than just winning the first three rounds and let that be it. There is the process of almost slowing your work down and taking your moments but I actually think the ankle injury helped me a lot with that one because I couldn't move as much. It forced me to get more mature and slow down my work because I wasn't all over shop so I suppose it's a blessing in disguise.”
Sparring with American boxers who were over has prepared for the 23-year-old for Saturday night as well as sparing with stable mate, Gary Cully, at Niall Barrett’s UNIT 3 Health and Fitness Gym in Naas however he is well aware of the threat the experienced Mexican will pose.
“I said this from my debut, nobody's taking this guy in their third fight, which is probably the selling point for me,” he said.
“If I can look good against someone that people fight when they're 9/10/11 fights in then I'm standing out because I'm taking him on younger. Hopefully I get a good performance against him and that'll put me in good stead for the rest of the year and next year,” he added. The decision to take on such an opponent is both calculated and ambitious Byrne believes.
“If I don't take these fights when I get to the big stage then I’ll never have been tested, I'm never going to have learned. I have to pick someone with a bit of danger. This lad is actually quite a good boxer. Mexicans tend to just go to war but he's a bit of a mover so there's always a threat and always danger with him,” he added.
Looking forward to Saturday night Byrne told us, “I think the plan is to just get a good base in the first three rounds and then we can push it on in the last three. I'm not in a rush this time; first three rounds see what happens and then push on from there and hopefully maybe get a stoppage if it comes but if it doesn't, I’m prepared to go the distance.”
Around 80 will travel up from Kildare on Saturday night while Byrne’s connections with Donegal should also add to the support in what is a bigger venue in Letterkenny. He is grateful for the continued support of his backers especially Healys in Kilcullen.
“I’m going to push for a show closer to home next year, I’m going to push for a show in Kildare next year,” Byrne concluded.
