The Scarborough News

Sean follows his hero Paul

- BY DANIEL GREGORY Daniel.gregory@jpress.co.uk Twitter: @mrdanielgr­egory

Boxer Sean Ireland follows his hero Paul Ingle into the ring, football, table tennis, results and league tables.

Boxing in Scarboroug­h is booming after Shaun Ireland followed George Rhodes Jnr in signing profession­al terms this week.

Ireland will fight in the featherwei­ght division, the same weight category that Paul Ingle fought in, and the Westway man is hoping to follow in the footsteps of one of Scarbor- ough’s greatest ever sportsmen.

“If I can achieve anything anywhere near what Paul did in his career I’ll be delighted.

“It looks like being a great time for boxing in Scarboroug­h with me a nd George turning profession­al , and there are more lads out there who could do it as well.”

I reland, who has signed with promoter Stefy Bull, is aiming to make his debut in the profession­al ranks in May once he has completed the for- malities with the British Boxing Board of Control.

Ireland said: “I am looking forward to fighting now, this has been a couple of years in the making.

“I’m hoping to make my debut in May, but I need to get the medical and formalitie­s sorted before I can sit down with Stefy and sort something out.

“It might end up being his show on May 2, which is also the night of Floyd Mayweather v Manny Pacquaio, so it could be a great night.

“I have to thank my boss at JM Engineerin­g as I’m going to be working while training at Westway and I would have no chance without them helping me out.”

Ireland’s promoter Bull is confident the Scarboroug­h man can make the leap into profession­al boxing quickly.

He said: “Subject to clearance from the Board of Control, the aim is for Shaun to make his profession­al debut at the Doncaster Dome on May 2.

“We’re not going to make any big statements like he’ll be world champion or this, that and the other, we will get some fights under his belt and see where we go from there.

“I’m looking forward to working with Shaun.

“He’s got a good person to look up to in Ingle.

“I fought on the undercard when he boxed a good friend of mine in JonJo Irwin, so I know him well, he was a great fighter and I have no doubt Shaun will look to catch up with him at some point.”

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 ?? Picture: Richard Ponter ?? Shaun Ireland has turned profession­al with promoter Stefy Bull and will aim to make his debut in May. The former Westway man will fight in the featherwei­ght division
Picture: Richard Ponter Shaun Ireland has turned profession­al with promoter Stefy Bull and will aim to make his debut in May. The former Westway man will fight in the featherwei­ght division

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