Tommy Fury’s sparring partner, Owen Kirk, took to the ring at the weekend after helping prepare the Mancunian for his high-profile showdown with KSI. Fury got his victory, but things didn’t play out so well for Kirk.
During the build-up to the Misfits spectacle, KSI slammed Fury for using middleweight Kirk (3-1-2) as a sparring partner, claiming that he was being underestimated and not taken seriously by the unbeaten brother of Tyson.
“How f***ing dare you? You’re not taking me seriously at all, you f***ing piece of s**t. I’m preparing myself for the ultimate challenge and this is what you’re sparring with [Kirk]? A middleweight with s**t movement and weak a** punches?!”
Kirk fired back at the YouTuber’s comments, challenging any of the current Misfits stable of fighters between 160lbs and 180lbs to a bout. Whether or not the fighter is serious about following in the footsteps of Mexican Luis Alcaraz Pineda and trying out Misfits remains to be seen.
First, he was to face a different sort of crossover boxer in the form of undefeated middleweight and former professional footballer, Paddy Lacey (9-0).
The once-Accrington Stanley midfielder made short work of ‘Captain’ Kirk, dispatching of the Lancashire-man within ninety seconds with a left-hook to the body to bring the contest to a close and extend his record to 10-0, with a second career stoppage, in front of his home crowd.
ANOTHER FIRST ROUND KO ???@paddy_lacey delights a home crowd in Liverpool#CatterallLinares pic.twitter.com/1vQzG9lcUM
— Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) October 21, 2023
This was Kirk’s first knockout loss, although he entered the ring as a heavy underdog in what was easily his toughest test to date.
