Super-lightweight prospect Pierce O’Leary says sparring Sunderland star Josh Kelly has sharpened his skills ahead of his MTK Fight Night bout with Irvin Magno at the University of Bolton Stadium on February 19.
O’Leary (5-0, 2 KOs) faces Buxton-based Filipino Magno (5-3-1, 1 KO) just 24 hours before Kelly’s crunch clash with European welterweight champion David Avanesyan, and ‘Big Bang’ believes high quality spars with the former Olympian have elevated his game to another level.
The 20-year-old Dubliner is also grateful his fight with Magno has been swiftly rearranged after two previous postponements in the current Covid-19 influenced landscape.
“Training has gone great. I’ve been in camp for a long time now and I stayed positive and tried not letting any negative situations get in my way,” said O’Leary. “For the last few weeks, I’ve been sparring Josh Kelly and what better preparation could I have got than that. I’ve sparred a lot in this camp and I’m sharper than ever.
“I am really pleased that the fight has been rearranged so quick on two occasions. We have been training really hard and I have made so many tough sacrifices through camp and was very disciplined throughout Christmas.
“It’s brilliant that all of that hard work will not be going to waste and it means I get to show everybody all of my improvements.”
Main image: MTK Global.