Advertisement

Monaghan's teenage boxing sensation to make pro debut at Madison Square Garden

Aaron McKenna will make his paid bow on a future Hall of Famer’s undercard in two weeks’ time.

MONAGHAN TEENAGER AARON McKenna will make his much-anticipated professional debut at Madison Square Garden on 2 December.

An eight-time national champion in the underage ranks, McKenna – who fought out of Old School Boxing Club in Smithborough while based in Ireland – inked a promotional deal with Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy in early September, in doing so becoming Ireland’s youngest pro boxer at the age of 18.

The 2014 European Junior silver medallist will make his bow in the paid ranks on the undercard of future Hall-of-Famer Miguel Cotto’s farewell bout with Sadam Ali in a fortnight’s time, and will open the RingTV.com live stream of the bill.

‘The Silencer’, who accrued a record of 152-9 during his prodigious amateur career, will take to the ring at The Garden’s 20,789-capcity main arena, following in the footsteps of fellow Ulsterman Michael Conlan who opened his professional account a floor below back in March.

His opponent will be named ‘soon’ per his management team at Sheer Sports, who also guide the career of his Golden Boy stablemate, Jason ‘El Animal’ Quigley [13-0, 10KOs].

Brother of 2016 Senior Elite champion Stephen McKenna, he was initially slated to turn professional last year, then aged just 16, with a debut tentatively scheduled for Mexico due to American labour laws.

Having opted to wait, McKenna has been back and forth to the States since, sparring big names such as WBO super-bantamweight champ Jessie Magdaleno – a gym-mate of Quigley and Michael Conlan.

The Monaghan man is the youngest fighter signed to Golden Boy, and trains alongside father, Fergal, at Santa Monica’s Iron Gym.

The42 has just published its first book, Behind The Lines, a collection of some of the year’s best sports stories. Pick up your copy in Eason’s, or order it here today (€10):

‘Canelo is going to be ringside in Belfast, but he’ll be leaving disappointed’

View 18 comments
Close
18 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic. Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy here before taking part.
Leave a Comment
    Submit a report
    Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
    Thank you for the feedback
    Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.

    Leave a commentcancel