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FEARGAL McCrory’s eagerly anticipated fight with former two-time featherweight world champion Josh Warrington is ‘off’.
The Coalisland native had agreed a mouth-watering clash with the Yorkshireman over a month ago but on Thursday night he confirmed the bout now won’t be going ahead.
“It’s off, it’s not happening now and I’m not hanging around waiting on it,” he said from his training base in New York where he had travelled last week to prepare for what he believed was a massive fight – so much so he actually turned down a bigger pay day to fight in Belfast in order to take Warrington on – but he feels his rival is running scared.
He added: “There’s nothing lined up and nothing sorted. I was told this fight was happening, it was agreed, it was done. Everything was agreed my end, I was told it was agreed Josh’s end. I was told it was down to the TV, I was told everything, but it was already too late for Belfast. I was in too deep to turn back but that’s because I wanted this fight.
“I promise you, Josh Warrington wouldn’t have fought again after I fought him. He was on about retirement a couple of fights ago and he would be finished after he fought me and he knows that and the thing with it is, I know I didn’t win a world title, I’m not a world champion yet but I lost to the best 135lb fighter since Vasiliy Lomachenko and because I haven’t achieved world champion status, it’s not all right for him to lose to me, but it’s all right for him to lose to someone else.
“There’s too much risk for him to fight me. I personally think he knows I’m too hungry for him and I was all wrong for him – too fresh, too hungry – and if I was him I wouldn’t fight me.
”I would have knocked out Josh Warrington and Josh Warrington didn’t fancy it. You can dress it up any way you want because it’s not about money it’s about it being acceptable to be beaten by a former world champion than be absolutely smashed by a lad from Tyrone and that’s it, that’s all it is.”
As annoyed as Feargal is about the fight not taking place, it’s the way the entire debacle has been dealt with by Warrington and Matchroom Boxing that has annoyed the Tyrone man the most.
“I’m very disappointed in Matchroom and their handling of the situation – they still haven’t said to me the fight’s off, I’m telling you the fight’s off,” he said. “All they have said is ‘it looks unlikely’, that’s all I’ve been told. We’re not talking about the weather, we’re talking about a fight – you’re fighting or you’re not fighting. Their handling of the situation is disgusting!”
Despite the ups and downs and ultimate disappointment McCrory has dealt with over the last few weeks, including missing youngest daughter, Meabh’s first birthday, he’s looking to the future.
“I’m not sitting about and while there’s nothing else in the pipeline, we will have. I’m in a good position. I’ll have something sorted soon,” he confirmed. “I missed my daughter’s first birthday, another milestone that I’ve sacrificed for boxing and there’s no reward at the end.
“And do you know what the unfortunate thing is? Nothing surprises me in this game any more! But I’ve taken boxing in our area to levels it’s never seen and I’m not finished yet!”