Feargal’s keen to prove a point upon ring return

AFTER enjoying a break from boxing over the last five months, Feargal McCrory is more determined than ever to succeed in the ring.

The Coalisland man suffered a disappointing defeat to champion Lamont Roach for the WBA super-featherweight title in Washington DC at the end of June and since then he has recharged his batteries and welcomed his third child into the world after Meabh Breda McCrory arrived at the start of October.

And after enduring an exhausting previous 18 months, he feels it was a break he needed.

“The only reason I’ve had such a long break is my wife had a baby in October, and also, from the World title fight in June to January the year before, out of those 18 months or whatever that was, I was away for 13 of them,” he explained.

“Even though I’ve been inactive since the World title fight, the stuff I put my body through for that year and a half was crazy and I’ve had more important things than boxing going on in my life – life happened so I was happy to come home and it’s been great to spend time with my family and the new baby, but it’s now time to go and finish what we started.”

The rest from the ring and the arrival of his new daughter have revitalised the 32-year-old, who feels he has a point to prove after that defeat to Roach and he’s looking forward to getting the ball rolling once more Stateside when he fights again in Madison Square Garden on March 16th against an, as yet, unnamed opponent.

And ‘Fearless’, who won the WBA Inter-Continental title after stopping Mexico’s Carlos Carlson in the same venue on St Patrick’s weekend 2024, is excited by his return to action.

“I’m looking forward to it,” beamed McCrory, who isn’t concerned about who is opponent will be in March. “There are a few names being thrown around but it’s irrelevant to me because they are all at a similar level, a high level, so it’s whoever we can get a deal done with I don’t mind.”

Regardless who his foe will be next year, McCrory feels he has learned a great deal from his first defeat in the professional ranks and he has gained a lot of belief from it, despite the bout being stopped in round eight.

“I do still believe, and maybe it’s the competitive streak in me, or maybe it’s ignorance, but I know for a fact I can beat Lamont Roach – I’m not saying I’ll get to fight him again but I know for a fact I can beat him,” McCrory said.

“It’s now about developing and improving from that last fight and kicking on because I learned a lot from that fight.

“I learned a lot, but in terms of what people from outside of my camp learned about me, the heart, courage, will to win, that’s stuff I’ve known about me from I was very young, but what I learned was that world level is somewhere I can compete. I learned a lot about the sport, I learned a lot about world level and I know I can compete at it, I know for a fact I can.”

Before he earns a second crack at a World title, McCrory first has to win again in the Garden and while he’s confident of achieving that aim, he admits he needs a new challenge to maintain his drive to the top, ‘correcting a few wrongs’ along the way.

“The crazy thing is, I used to dream of fighting in the Garden and selling it out and I do that now,” he beamed. “It’s crazy, I do that, but now I need something else because I’m not satisfied, I’m never satisfied.

“And also, if my biggest achievement is that World title fight, which is a fight I lost, it doesn’t sit right with me and that’s why I’m more driven, more motivated, more focused. I feel I have a big point to prove so I’m going out to correct a few wrongs in March and I’ll be back looking for World titles again.”