Boxer Ben McGivern’s heart is set on beating James Morrissey to the BUI Celtic title in October, and says it would be an outstanding achievement for a 34-year-old in his fifth fight.
And McGivern intends to dedicate his title win to legendary Coatbridge trainer Rab Bannon.
The Coatbridge fighter was due to clash with Morrissey for the Boxing Union of Ireland belt at the Crowne Plaza in Glasgow in July, but a bout with Covid put paid to that.
The duo are now set to scrap it out at Paisley Lagoon, as part of Sam Kynoch’s ‘No Easy Way Out’ bill on October 1, and McGivern can’t wait.
He said: “Morrissey is tidy, he’s decent, but he’s there for the taking – and I’m going to be the first one to do that.
“It would mean the world to me, and then I could step over to a Scottish title – that’s my plan. My main focus is on this. My heart is set on this and I’m going to take it with both hands.
“I’ll then move on to the Scottish, but first James Morrissey is my main focus at the minute.”
McGivern added: “With me starting late, coming back into the sport late, I’m getting opportunities so fast, thanks to Sam Kynoch.
“It would mean the world to grab this in only my fifth fight. A title after five fights would be outstanding, especially at 34 years of age, and it would be dedicated to Rab Bannon, for everything he taught me.
“There are a lot of things I would be proud of getting it for.”
McGivern admits Covid had him on the canvas, but he’s ready to take on a boxer that he has done his homework on.
He said: “This fight has been overdue for a while, so I’m over the moon for it.
“I’m devastated that I was almost touching distance away from grabbing my first title until Covid kicked in.
“To be fair, when I got Covid it was torture. Trying to come back from it was really difficult, trying to breathe properly, and I was coughing a lot.
“My energy was down, it was terrible. Trying to get back to running was really hard – I just never had the same energy.
“But everything is going well, now. I’m back in training, camp is going fantastic. Everything is going the way I would want it.”
McGivern says Morrissey is a tough opponent but is confident.
He said: “I don’t know much about him but I saw his last fight when he fought Seamus Devlin and I was quite impressed.
“Seamus is a really tough boxer, he’s the busiest journeyman in Britain just now.
“But I’m over the moon about the fact that it’s five weeks away now, and in five weeks’ time I’ll be coming home with the Celtic title. That would be amazing.”
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