Willie Casey refuses to rest on his laurels

WILLIE Casey is certainly not resting on his laurels. The recently crowned European super bantam weight champion has confirmed he is set to return to the ring just five weeks after his historic title success.
The 28-year-old Southill southpaw is to fight in Dublin’s National Basketball Arena on Friday, December 10.
It was thought that Limerick’s new sporting hero would enjoy his recent success over the Christmas period and then headline an event in Cork’s Neptune Stadium on Saturday, January 22 as a warm-up for his title defence against former champion Kiko Martinez in March.
But over the weekend Casey was confirmed for the Tallaght event which will be his seventh night of professional boxing in 2010.
“I’m delighted to be fighting again so soon. I’m feeling great and looking forward to putting on a show for all my fans in Dublin,” explained the EBU champion.
The December event is being organised by Willie Casey’s management team at Dolphil Promotions.
While Casey’s European title won’t be on the line he is adamant that he does not want to loose his unbeaten run in the pro-boxing ranks.
“It isn’t a warm up though. That is a little disrespectful. I won’t be taking anything for granted.
“I am a scalp now and I expect my opponent to be all out against me. I won’t be thinking about Kiko until eight weeks before our March fight,” explained the proud Limerick man.
Casey’s fight will appear on the undercard of Anthony Fitzgerald’s WBF inter-continental title fight with others like Dean Byrne, Gavin Prunty, Christina McMahon, JJ McDonagh, Patrick Hyland, Paddy McDonagh and Noel O’Brien also on the schedule.
“Up and down the country ‘Casey Mania’ has gripped the nation like no other fighter.
“Having defeated Hyland in just his 11th professional fight, comparisons have been made to that of fairytales with some pundits labelling him ‘The Cinderella Man’,” explained Daniel Halpin of Dolphil Promotions.
“Fans are being urged to buy their tickets now as the capacity is restricted. Irish boxing fans must surely be licking their lips as Dolphil Promotions have also added Dean Byrne to the card - the Freddie Roach-trained fighter will be looking to extend his unbeaten record to 14-0.”
Capacity for Casey’s 12th pro-fight will be restricted to 1,000 and the fight will not be shown live on television.
Tickets are available from www.ticketgroup.ie or call 0818 33 33 44 or 087 280 4380.
The weekend of December 10-11 will be a busy one for Limerick fight fans with Andy Lee also in action.
On Saturday, December 11 the Castleconnell middleweight fights on the undercard of the Waldimir Klitschko and Derek Chisora heavyweight world title fight at the SAP Arena in Mannheim, Germany. Currently ranked number nine in the WBA world rankings Lee’s opponent for next month’s fight is yet to be confirmed.
The former St. Francis Boxing Club Olympian is in Austria at present training with Klitschko ahead of their December fights.
After that December 11 fight Lee could be set for a rematch against Brian Vera.
Brian Vera inflicted Lee’s only defeat in his 25-bout professional boxing career back in March 2008, but the Limerick middleweight has regrouped to win nine successive fights since that shock reversal.
If Andy Lee does win in Germany his rematch against Brian Vera could take place on February 4.

Jerome O'Connell