JONO Carroll has always been prepared to take a gamble. He’s been a pro for nine years now but has fought in his native Dublin just once and even then he was “the B-side” in a grudge match against fellow Dub Declan Geraghty.
Against the odds he won that night at a raucous 3Arena. Bottles thrown by fans of Geraghty (disqualified for use of the head) flew through the air as he celebrated in his corner and since then Carroll has carved out a reputation as a have-gloves-will-travel fearless road warrior.
This weekend he will be in action at the Staples Center in Los Angeles where he takes on Andy Vences in a final eliminator for the WBA super-featherweight title and ‘King Kong’ is confident that he’ll steal a show that was scheduled to include the comeback of ring legend Oscar De La Hoya (ruled out after testing positive for Covid.
“Please God, fingers crossed everything goes according to plan and we do a number on this fella,” said Carroll over the phone from his LA training camp.
At 29, he says he feels like he is hitting his prime and can feel his “man strength” coming through when he sits down on his shots. He has a few years left in him yet but he’s not planning to hang around waiting for opportunities to come his way.
“I want to be retired and out of this sport by 32 so the way I have it in my head is that I haven’t got long so it’s all or nothing for me over the next few years,” he says.
Tonight he faces Vences (23-2-1) in his own backyard. The 30-year-old Californian is experienced and well organised but he hasn’t fought at Carroll’s level before and he will find the Irish challenger with that pitch-black pirate beard and ‘Tiocfaidh Ar La’ tattoo on his back in his face from the first bell.
“He hasn’t been in with someone who had the experience that Scott Quigg had,” says Carroll.
“I topped the bill that night and he hasn’t been on the very top of the sport. Hopefully Vences has the same mindset that I have and if he does we’re in for a treat because it’ll be an exciting fight. He’s a good fighter, he’s experienced and he doesn’t rush his work, he takes his time but I do see a few chinks in his armour that I can expose.
“I’m always in exciting fights because I don’t like to give opponents an easy night’s work. Whether I win, lose or draw, I like to give it to them and I always try and compete with myself, I always try and out-do my last performance.
“So he better be fit because I’m going to push him and see what he’s made of.”
Carroll’s first two pro fights were in Australia and since then he has navigated the globe with his gloves in his bag, fighting in: Dublin (1), Belfast (3), England (9), Germany (1), Scotland (2), US (1), Mexico (1) and Spain (1).
“If boxing was easy everyone would do it,” he says with a chuckle.
“That’s the hand that I was dealt and I’ve played it the best that I possibly could. When I came back from Australia I got brought in as the B-side to lose against Geraghty but I just excelled.
“Every time my back has been put against a wall I seem to come out fighting and I come out the better of it. So for me it’s not crazy to be on the road because I never fought in Dublin, I never fought in my home town except that one time against another Dublin opponent.
“So I’ve never had any home advantage but at the same time it’s nice because there’s never any pressure on me, there’s always pressure on the other people.”
In March last year Carroll dismantled a well-past-his-best former super-bantamweight champ Quigg and the former Carl Frampton opponent retired afterwards.
“The amount of family and friends I brought over to England was amazing,” he said of that night.
“It wasn’t just the win, it was the after-party and the memories of the whole night will stay with me forever.”
Five months’ later Carroll was on the crest of a wave when he ducked through the ropes to take on England’s Maxi Hughes. He was brought crashing back down to earth when Yorkshire native Hughes rallied in the second half of the fight and took a unanimous decision win on the scorecards.
It was the second loss of Carroll’s career after he’s come in a plucky second best against Philadelphia’s IBF super-featherweight champ Tevin Farmer in 2019.
“Fighting Farmer for the world title was a big ask for me after 16 fights but at the same time sometimes it can make you or break you,” he says.
The Hughes loss was different. He was expected to win that night and admits he got over-confident and was caught out.
“That’s life, you’re not always going to have the way you want it,” he says.
“There are ups and downs but it’s how you bounce back that counts. That’s what actually matters. To be honest, I just thought I had the victory that night and I started coasting in the fight – I thought it was an easy night’s work.
“If you look at my other performances and wins, I came out busted up, hands in bits… I came out of that fight without a cut! My hands weren’t even sore! It seemed like an easy night at the office and then the decision went the other way.
“I let myself down because I know I could have went harder, I know I could have upped my game but I just thought I was coasting the fight and that was my fault. I learned a valuable lesson from that fight.
“After it I wasn’t disappointed that I had lost and I’d have to rebuild but things happen for a reason and you live and you learn. On the way home in the taxi I was saying: ‘It’s weird but I know where I am as a fighter, I know what I’m capable of achieving as a fighter so losing doesn’t even phase me’.
“I wasn’t beat up, I didn’t get humiliated… I just thought it was an opportunity to learn and I took the opportunity to learn and move on. I wasn’t going to beat myself up over a silly little loss like that.
“Look at Mike Tyson, look at Muhammad Ali… They’ve all had losses, it’s how you come back from them. We all can’t be Floyd Mayweather and have an unblemished record and I don’t try to be, I never tried to be that from day one.
“I was always happy to take a loss if it meant learning, I was always happy to take a risk as the underdog so it doesn’t bother me catching a loss – it’s just a number on a bleeding boxing record.”
It may only be a number but the +1 on his win record will mean the world to him on Saturday night.
AS a professional, world ranked welterweight Conor Benn can boast more fights (18) than Stevie McKenna has had rounds (15) so far, but that doesn’t dissuade the Smithsborough, County Monaghan ‘Hitman’ from actively staking a shootout with the son of Hall of Fame legend Nigel Benn.
“I want to get to Conor Benn before somebody else does,” said 24-year-old McKenna ahead of his rumble with Moussa Gary (11-3-2) at the Coventry Skydome tonight (live on Channel 5).
“I’m sure it’s a fight the fans would love to see, probably next year. My style, my physicality, would prove far too much. I’m 6ft 1 (in), huge at 147 (lbs) where he’s very small for the weight. He might have 18 pro fights on his record but he’s not been fighting high calibre and, unlike me, Benn has nominal amateur pedigree.
“He’ll never have come across anything as hard-hitting as me. He’s wild, easy to hit and he’ll be feeling it whenever I connect. His dad’s career was finished by a man from the south of Ireland (Steve Collins) so they’ll no doubt be coming for revenge. I’ll happily oblige.”
Since debuting at super-lightweight in April 2019, hard-hitting McKenna has flattened all eight victims long before the cards were called. Five faltered in the opening session and, with six succumbing to the full 10 count, the evidence suggests savage Stevie carries a real kayo kick rather than profiting from overly cautious matchmaking.
Hennessy Sports/Lawrence Lustig
