Conrad targets top display ahead of big clash

THEY may have one eye on each other ahead of their meeting on the Carl Frampton v Nonito Donaire undercard, but middleweight rivals Conrad Cummings and Luke Keeler each have some business to take care of at The Devenish tomorrow night.

Both will be in action in what are effectively warm-up bouts ahead of their April 21 meeting at the SSE Arena with Dubliner Keeler’s opponent yet to be confirmed, while Cummings will top the bill against Michael Mora.

The Coalisland man had something of a frustrating 2017 as, after claiming the WBO European title in March against Gogi Knezevic, he was then sidelined until December 1 following his split from Cyclone Promotions.

He has since teamed up with MTK Global and trainer Jamie Moore and finally got back to doing what he does best when boxing his way to a points win over Norbert Szekeres at the Finaghy venue in December — and is looking forward to another outing tomorrow.

“These fights are perfect,” he said.

“Touch wood, I get no injuries and can go out and do what I did the last time and practice the things I’m learning in the gym.

“I could go and blast these opponents out in a round, but I want to test what Jamie (Moore) has been teaching me. I intend to do that again and it will help put on a big performance on April 21.”

Some may have questioned his decision to take this fight, but the affable 26-year-old is paying no attention and instead will draw strength from those who stood behind him when the chips were down last year.

“I’ve had some people laughing at me about this, but these are the type of fights I begged the McGuigans to get for me before my other big fights because I knew I needed them, but I never got them,” he said. “I won my WBO European belt last March and my first defence will be in April, 13 months later, which is self-explanatory about the year I’ve had.”

Another man using tomorrow night as a tune-up will be Gerard Healy, who faces Iain Jackson ahead of the Ireland’s Last Man Standing middleweight tournament in Dublin on March 3, while Padraig McCrory takes on Many Bique and Anthony Upton clashes with Eligio Palacios.

Sean Magee is matched with Elvis Guillen on the 10-fight card that also features Declan Geraghty, Gary Cully, David Oliver Joyce and Sean Creagh. Fight night: Conrad Cummings is in action tomorrow night