BoxRec

Press Release | O’Leary vs Limburn on August 12, Live on ESPN+

Irish phenomenon Pierce O’Leary is loving life under new trainer Al Smith – and feels the recent switch will spell trouble for Harry Limburn when they meet in less than a fortnight.

O’Leary (4-0, 1 KO) faces fellow undefeated fighter Limburn (6-0) on a massive #MTKFightNight at the LS-Live in Wakefield on August 12, live in the US on ESPN+ in association with Top Rank and worldwide on IFL TV.

It will be O’Leary’s first fight after relocating to London to work alongside Smith at the iBox Gym, and he’s ready to show everybody just how much his talented have improved.

O’Leary said: “I’m really excited to back, and what a tremendous card to be out on straight after lockdown. I’m more than ready for this step up and I believe it’s going to bring the best out of me yet.

“I don’t know much about Limburn, other than he fought one of my fellow opponents. He’s 6-0, but he has fought nobody. I know he’ll be coming to win, but once I stay on top of my game plan, it will be a long night for him.

“I’ve teamed up with Al Smith and all of the coaches in the iBox Gym like Paul Taylor and Eddie Lam. They have being helping me a lot and it means everything.

“Al and I have being working on bringing the best out of me. We have gelled really well and it’s a great atmosphere in the gym all of the time. Everyone is willing to help each other, so I can’t wait to show the world what I’ve gained come fight night.

“It’s being a great journey so far. MTK Global have being keeping me active and I’ve been getting used to the big events. Now I’m going for my fifth win.”

O’Leary vs. Limburn is part of a huge show on August 12, which is headlined by Jono Carroll vs. Maxi Hughes and also features Sean McComb going up against Siar Ozgul, Craig MacIntyre taking on Darren Surtees, and Sahir Iqbal facing Maredudd Thomas for the WBC Youth title.

margaret thatcher wrote: ↑21 Jul 2020, 15:07 Anyone seen much of Eric Donovan. A successful and very very experienced am but not done much as pro yet.

I've seen quite a lot of him, and despite his advanced age he could prove a dangerous fight for Barrett.
He's only fought a relatively low level of opponent so far, but he's handled them in the way you'd expect of a fighter who can fight at this level.
He's very fast, has good footwork, reasonable power, and although it hasn't been tested, what will be interesting is his own punch resistance. Zelfa will have a size advantage over him, but if Donovan can handle his power we could have a very interesting fight.

BigEars wrote: ↑31 Jul 2020, 17:47

margaret thatcher wrote: ↑21 Jul 2020, 15:07 Anyone seen much of Eric Donovan. A successful and very very experienced am but not done much as pro yet.

I've seen quite a lot of him, and despite his advanced age he could prove a dangerous fight for Barrett.
He's only fought a relatively low level of opponent so far, but he's handled them in the way you'd expect of a fighter who can fight at this level.
He's very fast, has good footwork, reasonable power, and although it hasn't been tested, what will be interesting is his own punch resistance. Zelfa will have a size advantage over him, but if Donovan can handle his power we could have a very interesting fight.

Jono Carroll: I'm Treating Maxi Hughes Like A World Title Fight

Jono Carroll remains in search of an elusive major title and plans to approach every fight as if such a prize is at stake.

It helps that the 28-year old Dubliner is coming off of a career-best win against a former champ heading into his next ring adventure. Carroll will face Yorkshire's Maxi Hughes (20-5-2, 4KOs) in a 10-round junior lightweight bout atop MTK Global's first MTK Fight Night card since the start of the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which takes place August 12 at Production Park Studios in Wakefield, England.

The event—and the series as a whole for the time being—will air live on ESPN+ and IFL TV from behind closed doors, in compliance with COVID-19 protocol.

"It's going to just be me and him in the ring, so I don't see it being that different with no fans," insists Carroll (18-1-1, 4KOs), who has won two straight since a 12-round loss to then IBF junior lightweight titlist Tevin Farmer last March in the United States. "I have tunnel vision when I fight and I don't hear the crowd, I only hear my coach Albert's voice.

"There's going to be some strange aspects for sure, but it won't bother me. I usually feed off the energy of the crowd during the ring walk so it takes that excitement away, but I'm there to do a job and I'm going to take care of it."

Carroll enters the fight on the heels of an 11th round stoppage over former 122-pound titlist Scott Quigg this past March. The win came nearly one year to the day of his hard-fought defeat to Farmer on the road in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The lone loss of his career came three months after being held to a disappointing draw by France's Guillaume Frenois in their December 2018 title eliminator.

The clash with Hughes will mark the fourth straight bout where Carroll enters the home region of his opponent. Five months after losing to Farmer in his hometown, Carroll traveled to Mexico to outpoint local journeyman Eleazar Valenzuela last August before bumping off Quigg in Manchester, mere miles from Quigg's hometown of Manchester, England.

Such a journey is essential to Carroll's preparation to return to the major title stage, especially in a 130-pound division where all of the major titlists are based in The Americas. In that sense, every fight leading up to that point becomes a live audition.

"Every fight is like snakes and ladders, so it's very important I treat them all as a world title fight," vows Carroll. "I want to go in there and put on a good display that makes a statement, and show that I'm still learning and improving in every bout."

fight time, date, TV channel, undercard, schedule, venue, betting odds, ring walks and live stream details

How to watch Jono Carroll vs Maxi Hughes fight

'King Kong' vs 'Maximus'

World title contender Jono Carroll (18-1-1, 4KOs) clashes with Maxi Hughes (20-5-2, 4KOs) in MTK's first show back from lockdown.

Date

The bout takes place on Wednesday, August 12

Venue

It's located at the purpose-built Production Park Studios in Wakefield

Rounds scheduled

10 three-minute at lightweight - 135lbs

Titles

There are no titles on the line

Ringwalks

UK fight fans can expect Carroll and Hughes to make their ringwalks any time around 10pm (GMT), but boxing events are often subject to delays.

TV Coverage

Coverage for Carroll-Hughes starts live on iFL TV from 7:30pm live, and ESPN in the US

Live Stream

You can watch online via the iFL TV YouTube channel or ESPN

Price

Free to view for internet subscribers

Undercard Highlights

Sahir Iqbal (7-0, 1KO) and Maredudd Thomas (11-0, 2KOs) will clash for the vacant WBC Youth welterweight title, a belt once held by Canelo, Danny Garcia and Tim Bradley Jr.

Key Stats

The champion, Carroll, has only lost once in 20 fights, and has a KO ratio of 20%. He has experienced 133 rounds as a professional, 34 less than his next opponent.

The challenger, Hughes, is has won 20 from 27 bouts, with a lowly knockout ratio of just 14%.

Background

Jono Carroll comes into the fight as a world title contender that has bounced back with a brace of wns since his sole career defeat to IBF World super-featherweight champion Tevin Farmer in March last year.

His last victory was an emphatic performance over Manchester's Scott Quigg in March this year. The 23-year-old Dubliner, now trained by Danny Vaughan, is a former Prizefighter champion, and IBF European and Inter-Continental super-featherweight titleholder.

The southpaw is currently ranked 14th with the WBC and is aiming to keep winning to set up further world title challenges.

Yorkshireman Maxi Hughes, aged 30, has challenged for British titles twice but failed to succeed each time. Even his first attempt at securing a Central Area title ended with a loss - to Scott Cardle in 2013. That was at lightweight, but a few years later he won the super-featherweight version. He has won two of his previous four fights, which included a fourth-round knockout of unbeaten prospect Kieron McLaren (12-0-1) and four-round points win over journeyman Kris Pilkington (2-5-1) in February this year.

IFL TV AND ESPN+ BROADCAST BEGINS - 7:00PM GMT / 2:00PM EST / 11:00AM PST

Weights and running order for Carroll vs Hughes

Bout 1
Super-lightweight, 8 Rounds
Craig Macintyre (10st 3lbs 10oz) vs. Ishmael Ellis (10st 1lb 11oz)

Bout 2
Super-lightweight, 6 Rounds
Pierce O'Leary (10st 2lbs 5oz) vs. Jacob Quinn (10st 1lb 12oz)

Bout 3
WBC Youth Welterweight Title, 8 Rounds
Sahir Iqbal (10st 7lbs) vs. Maredudd Thomas (10st 6lbs 15oz)

Bout 4
Super-lightweight, 10 Rounds
Sean McComb (9st 13lbs 14oz) vs. Siar Ozgul (10st 4oz)

Bout 5: Main Event
Lightweight, 10 Rounds
Jono Carroll (9st 11lbs 12oz) vs. Maxi Hughes (9st 9lbs 5oz)

Looking forward to this one.

This cards on Showcase in the UK as well, channel 100 in virgin, no sure about sky, should be a routine tick over win for Carroll, although close once or twice Hughes just cant seem to win at the higher level, the 3rd fight with Ward was probably his best effort

handsofstone wrote: ↑12 Aug 2020, 03:51 This cards on Showcase in the UK as well, channel 100 in virgin, no sure about sky, should be a routine tick over win for Carroll, although close once or twice Hughes just cant seem to win at the higher level, the 3rd fight with Ward was probably his best effort

Channel 192 on Sky

MacIntyre the aggressor, landing some heavy shots on Ellis. 20-18 MacIntyre.

The third round was all MacIntyre, lots of very hard body shots, almost a 10-8 round. This might last long.

Ellis down in the fourth from a couple of hard left hooks to the body. 40-35 MacIntyre, one way traffic.

Referee stopped it in the fifth, and not too soon either.

Iqbal-Thomas is a much tighter contest than the opening two fights. I have it a round each after two.

Iqbal wins a tight but deserved decision, picks of the WBC youth belt.

I'm starting to think the showcase channel on Virgin is different to the one on sky, this ones just showing a load of constant ads, better off with ifl

The card of the feather fist.

TheLeprechaun wrote: ↑12 Aug 2020, 16:57 The card of the feather fist.

Half the fights have ended in stoppages...

Almost 9k viewers on YouTube pretty impressive.

That fight was not even close Maxi by 6/7 rounds well done Maxi well deserved.

daviddee wrote: ↑12 Aug 2020, 17:52 That fight was not even close Maxi by 6/7 rounds well done Maxi well deserved.

Timed him all night , Carroll looked really flat in there .

Wasn’t a great fight to watch. Carroll was quite poor he was easy to hit at times. Well done to Hughes, he deserved it. I thought when they said UD he was gonna get shafted.

Awful fight, Jono Carroll stinks. How did Quigg lose to this guy? About 90% of his shots fell short. For ten rounds.

Never rated carroll. He was shown up there.