Boxing: 'Colossus' comes out fighting ahead of vital bout
Irish heavy weight boxer Kevin McBride will decide on his boxing future next week
LET there be no mistake. It's most definitely the Last Chance Saloon for Irish heavyweight champion Kevin McBride when he answers the bell for his crucial crossroads fight with the big Polish contender Andrew Golota at Madison Square Garden, New York on Saturday.
Victory in this Don King promotion could put the 34-year-old Clones Colossus in the forefront for a world heavyweight championship fight in 2008.
Defeat, and he can say a fond farewell to any hopes he has of becoming the first ever Irish-born boxer to win the title in the 200-year-old history of the division.
It's just 100 years since the last native son even fought for the title, when Wexford blacksmith Jem Roche lasted all of 88 seconds, including the full count, against the French-Canadian Tommy Burns at the old Theatre Royal in Dublin on St Patrick's Day in 1908. With 34 wins, five losses and a draw, the 6ft 6in McBride now aims to re-write the history books by winning the title, especially as he has a new coach in Buddy McGirt, America's Trainer of the Year, and new manager in Gerry "The Mighty" Quinn, a nightclub owner from Galway.
It's a difficult one for the Boston-based McBride, 34, who forced the veteran Mike Tyson to quit on his stool after six rounds two years ago, only to be stopped himself in two rounds by the underestimated Mike Mollo last October.
Golota, though 39, is still a rugged fighter possessing a knockout punch in both gloves, with 32 countouts or stoppages in 39 winning fights, six losses and a draw. But he has shown a blantant disregard for the rules by hitting low and butting, and famously lost two important fights in 1996 by repeatedly fouling Riddick Bowe and getting himself disqualified on both occasions. "I'm ready for Golota," said McBride. "I'm going to put an end to his career just like I did to Tyson. Kevin McBride is going to be the new Cinderella Man, just like James J Braddock came from the dole queues to upset the odds by beating Max Baer in the 1930s.
"I'm hungry for glory and the championship of the world, and Golota is in my way to becoming champion. I'm in better shape, mentally, physically and spiritually than I've ever been in my life, even better than I was for Tyson.
"Buddy is helping to increase my speed. He has told me I have great power and he is showing me how to utilise it.
"Even though I'm 34, I feel I'm in my prime just now. I feel terrific. One punch can end this fight and it's going to be mine, not Golota's.
"I won't pick the round but I'm going to knock him out. I'm a lean, mean fighting machine and you can tell your readers that."
"Kevin is an underrated guy," said trainer McGirt. "He's more special than he has shown and a very hard worker. He's strong and I really like his work ethic. To beat Golota he has to keep his balance and not throw one punch at a time. I'm convinced his best days are ahead of him."
It's a hard one to pick. If McBride keeps his cool he could outlast Golota but if he gets into a slugfest and allows the Pole to dominate the action, he could be in trouble.
Meanwhile, Belfast heavyweight Scott Belshaw, recovering from a car crash in which he broke a kneecap, expects to be back in action before Christmas. With five wins in as many bouts, he has been doing light training in the gym.
And Dubliners rank high in the ratings issued by the international amateur boxing website www.ababoxing.com for September. Middleweight Darren Sutherland is No 6 in the world and No 2 in Europe, while lightheavy Kenneth Egan is No 10 in the world and No 4 in Europe.
