FORMER IRISH AMATEUR boxing sensation Joe Ward will make his eagerly anticipated professional bow on a major Stateside bill this autumn.

It’s understood that Ward, 25, will debut on the undercard of Gennady Golovkin’s IBF World middleweight title showdown with Sergiy Derevyanchenko at Madison Square Garden, New York, on 5 October.

The Moate light-heavy will face an as-of-yet-unnamed opponent at ‘The Mecca of Boxing’, and it’s not yet clear if his bout — tentatively scheduled for six rounds — will be part of the DAZN/Sky Sports broadcast.

Ward, a three-time European champion and three-time World Championship medallist in the unpaid ranks, recently turned professional with the management group Times Square Boxing in New York.

He will be co-promoted by Big Apple native Lou DiBella and Bostonian Ken Casey — the bassist and one of the lead singers of the Celtic-punk band Dropkick Murphys whose promotional outfit, Murphys Boxing, has rapidly become the industry leader in the New England area.

Ward is currently keeping things ticking over in Ireland but is expected to join up with his trainer, boxing Hall of Famer Buddy McGirt, after the American fulfils his duties as chief second to Sergey Kovalev for his fight with Anthony Yarde this Saturday.