TIERNAN Bradley makes his Irish debut on tonight’s ‘Redemption’ bill at the Europa Hotel.
The highly-rated Omagh light-welterweight Bradley came to prominence five years ago when he was brought into Conor McGregor’s camp to help ‘the Notorious’ prepare for a one-off fight with unbeaten pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather.
Since then Bradley has carved out a 5-0 record as a professional and he intends to impress tonight on the undercard of the Eric Donovan-headlined Belfast bill. When a vacancy came up on the undercard, Bradley was quick to get his manager (Scott Welch) to inquire whether he could fill it.
Promoter Mark Dunlop agreed and now Bradley is looking forward to getting his first fight on home soil.
“I was training away flat-out and as soon as the slot opened up I thought: ‘Now’s my chance, grab it’ and I got in there,” he said.
“It’s a fantastic bill and I really want to go in there and entertain the crowd. I’ve come into the sport to entertain the fans and hopefully I’ll gain a few more fans after Saturday. Hopefully I’ll add something to the bill with a wee bit of flair and maybe a nice little knockout.
“I would have loved to have had a little bit more time but I’ve sold a lot of tickets. All my mates bought £100 dinner tickets just to come and support me so I’m really looking forward to it. I’ve had five fights as a professional but making a home debut is special. It’s like: this is it! I’ve spent most of my career fighting abroad – I fought in Poland for my pro debut and I’ve had fights in Spain and Belgium.
“I’ve had to pick up fights here and there and sometimes I haven’t got paid for them. I’ve paid my own way but I think there’s a great market for small-hall boxing in Belfast now and I really hope that Belfast comes out and supports Mark (Dunlop) and the lads he has.
“I’m really looking forward to this show and I hope Mark has me back and maybe I can make Belfast the base for my fights in the future.”
For ticket information, telephone 07712 473905 or email info@mhdpromotions.com. First fight is at 8pm.
Super-featherweight: Eric Donovan (14-2) v Engel Gomez (8-9-1)
Featherweight: Colm Murphy (2-0) v Brayan Mairena (11-26-1)
Flyweight: Conor Quinn (2-0) v TBC
Light-welterweight: Tiernan Bradley (5-0) v Janos Penzes (2-0)
Middleweight: Graham McCormack (6-1) v Seamus Devlin (1-25)
Super-bantamweight: Ruadhan Farrell (1-0) v Luke Fash (2-78-3)
