McCrory’s ‘ready for a war’ ahead of WBA title fight

FEARGAL McCrory is ‘ready for a war’ ahead of his WBA Inter-Continental Super Featherweight title fight against Carlos Carlson in Madison Square Garden tomorrow night.

For the Coalisland native, the date of the bout has added significance as it takes place on St Patrick’s weekend and he hopes that is a good omen for an Irish fighter.

“It’s St Paddy’s weekend, I’m fighting for a title in Madison Square Garden, it’s deadly!,” he beamed. “But I’m not getting caught up in that either. It’s great, it’s unbelievable, it’s a great opportunity but I still have to go and knock him out.

“Everything has just come together for it and it will be the best moment of my career, nothing will come close. If I can do the job and do the job very well, perform to the best of my ability, then it will take some topping.”

The fact that Carlson is a former world title contender, having fought Shinsuke Yamanaka for the WBC Bantam title in 2017 and more recently lost a split decision to Keenan Carbajal for the vacant WBC Latino Feather belt in 2020, means McCrory has the utmost respect for his opponent anticipating a ‘special’ encounter in the ring.

“When we were presented with his name, saw his record and saw how he fights we jumped all over it,” McCrory explained.

“I’m going in confident, as I do ahead of all my fights, because I’ve worked hard but he’s a Mexican, a former World title challenger, a former Inter-Continental champion and I’m his ticket back to where he wants to go.

“He’s coming to fight in Madison Square Garden and there’s a lot of Mexicans in New York also, so this is going to be a fight and I can’t bloody wait!

“We’re ready for a war but I do see a career best performance coming here, I really do feel that. How my training has been, how my sparring has been, I’m expecting a career best performance and it’s going to take that.

“The fact it’s for a title adds incentive, no doubt. I want those accolades, I want these titles.

“I don’t care what belt it is, if it’s a belt I want it and he’s in the same boat so this is going to be a special fight.

“I can feel it and I can’t wait for it. And when I say special, I don’t mean me going in there and blowing him out of the way, I mean it’s going to be a hard fight, it’s going to be nip and tuck, it’s going to be dirty at times, it’s great!

“If he comes ready to fight, and I don’t expect anything less, then this is going to be brilliant!”
With less than a week to go until the first bell signals action, McCrory believes he’s in the right shape at the right time.

“I’m feeling good. Camp is good, it’s very hard and every day brings different challenges and I’m very happy with where I am right now,” he added,

“The weight’s good, everything’s good. Everything is coming together very, very nicely. It’s brilliant.”