On the undercard of Andy Lee's comeback fight on the 19th of July in Limerick , Paul McCloskey has been handed his hardest test to date against English Light-Welterweight champion Nigel Wright . Wright, who gave hotly tipped Nigerian Ajose Olusegun a very close fight for the Commonwealth title until Olusegun managed to take the late rights and with them the fight , is looking at getting another shot at the British title . His camp had been looking to get this made a British title eliminator but the BBBofC were reluctant seeing as the bout will be held in the Republic of Ireland , outside their jurisdiction . However a British Light-Heavyweight title fight did take place in the Republic less than a year ago so this does seem a bit of a strange decision by the board . Wright's team then looked for the fight to be made for McCloskey's IBF International title , although Brian Peters doesn't seem to fancy paying the fees but the camps have agreed a 50/50 split of sanctioning fees if it does end up that the bout is for McCloskeys IBF bauble . This fight with give us a chance to gauge how good McCloskey really is , allowing us to draw comparitives between his performance and those of Olsuegun and Daws against Wright . For me this is a fantastically exciting contest and one that should make for a great fight . I think it's a fight Paul needs before he is to take on someone like Branco . I could end up looking foolish here , but I reckon McCloskey will win this easily enough , and if he does I reckon Peters should try and get Branco over here something before the end of the year for the European belt . I really fancy Paul's chances against the Italian . His lack of punch and loose(but no necessarily poor) defence may end up letting him down at the very top , but I think Paul McCloskey may , just may be World level . and when you consider we've had the hopes of Dunne , Duddy and Lee dashed in recent times , it would be about bloody time someones good enough .
I havent seen McCloskey yet, but if he can get past Nigel Wright comfortably then I think the guy is worth watching out for. If anyone remembers, I have always backed Nigel Wright as an underrated & dangerous fighter, & predicted Olusegun wouldnt have it easy beating this guy. Tough test for McCloskey, Nigel has mixed at a good level & is capable of big wins, hes a bit of an english version of John Simpson IMO. I would be worried about this one Bigears, even though I havent seen the irishman in action! Good luck to your boy though, its about time as you say that Ireland gets a fighter who can make waves at world level. Its been too long. & I say that as a scot who has felt the same way since Scotty Harrison went off the rails, we have Arthur now but until he makes a defence of his title against a good opponent hes just another Macarinelli. So I feel your pain brother!
I'm still unsure about McCloskey as his last opponent Bazan seemed shot and lethargic. He's probably European level at best but may have the ability to go further in that relatively weak division.