Gallagher debuts in Belfast

Gallagher with his Delhi Gold

This weekend sees some huge fights at the top of the bills in Britain, with Ricky Burns v Kevin Mitchell in Scotland and Carl Frampton v Steve Molitor in Belfast. At the Odyssey Arena, Eddie Hearn has put together a stacked card, which includes some tremendous prospects. Martin J Ward, Khalid Yafai and Scott Cardle are three talented guys on show, but one making his debut and not attracting too much interest at the moment is 2010 Commonwealth Gold Medallist Paddy Gallagher.

The 23 year old from Belfast performed brilliantly two years ago in Delhi, beating Callum Smith 11-5 in the final as he claimed Gold for Northern Ireland. He joins fellow Delhi Gold Medallist Eamon O'Kane in fighting on this bill. Following that Gallagher went on to participate in the World Series of Boxing, having two fights, going 1-1, but he did suffer some disappointment last year in the Ulster Championships as he lost to the talented William McLaughlin.

Gallagher in my opinion is better suited to the pros, and it was way back in May when he signed with Belfast based manager John Rooney, becoming one of several Northern Irish amateurs to have gone pro. The intention of Eddie Hearn seems to be get more big shows in Belfast, they are a great Boxing crowd, and Rooney will be able to get Gallagher on these shows if he impresses.

Hopefully we'll get some highlights of this fight on Saturday night, or on Ringside in the coming weeks, but I believe "Patman" is definitely a good addition to the very competitive domestic 147lbs division. There's no doubt he should win, but his opponent William Warburton is a real tough kid and has been stopped in just two of his 44 fights, expect Gallagher to be keen to put on a real show, that's the key in Boxing nowadays.