IBF Inter-Continental Welterweight title: Tyrone McKenna v Harlem Eubank

(Brighton, Friday from 9pm, live on Channel 5)
 
WHAT’S in a name? Well, in Tyrone McKenna’s opinion, quite a lot, as he makes the trip to Brighton to take on Harlem Eubank on Friday night.

Eubank, nephew of Chris - a legend of British boxing - has not had the same fanfare in his career that his cousin, Chris Jr enjoys, and the Belfast man insists that is down to his opponent bring name recognition and little else into their fight for the vacant IBF Inter-Continental welterweight strap.

Undoubtedly, 31-yer-old Harlem hasn’t scored that big, defining win or had the huge opportunity to date, despite being perfect through 20 fights, but the Brighton man has done what has had to do with his best win arguably against Germany’s Timo Schwarzkopf in late 2023 to grab the WBO Global trinket.

That’s not to say he isn’t capable of pushing on to world level and this winner this week will likely be elevated into a good position by the IBF.

It’s not unreasonable to say that McKenna, despite having five losses and a draw in his 30-fight career, has been up against much tougher opposition in the form of Regis Prograis, Jack Catterall and Ohara Davies, and the West Belfast southpaw insists he will prove a jump too far for Eubank on Friday.

“Harlem, I don’t think has had a tough fight in his career,” said ‘The Mighty Celt’.

“He’s 20-0 and got there off the back of his surname. He’s never had a test and been given hand-picked opponents. I think this is the first time he’s been given a tough test and he isn’t ready for it.

“He doesn’t know what he is in for as his best win is Timo Schwarzkopf, who had a three-week notice for camp, so I’m not even looking into that one. He will realise very quickly he’s in too deep.”

McKenna has just turned 35 years of age, but as his close friend Anthony Cacace has proven, age is just a number and it’s not too late to scale the mountain.

His decision to retire in the wake of his December 2023 defeat to Lewis Crocker was quickly reversed and although he lost his comeback in a rematch against Mohamed Mimoune, a big win over Dylan Moran just before Christmas has brought him back into a good opportunity.

“Boxers should look at my career and see that losses mean nothing,” McKenna counters.

“So long as you take good fights, you’re only one win away from a big one and I’ve proven that many times.

“I lost to Ohara Davies but then fought Jose Felix, beat him and it got me the (Regis) progress fight. I beat Dylan Moran and it got me the Harlem Eubank fight.”

There wasn’t a lot of time to back in the two-round victory in Waterford as the Eubank fight was quickly arranged, so the West Belfast man was straight back to Germany to work with his coach Tim Yilmaz.

Spending so long away from home is not ideal for a man with a young family, but it paid off against Moran and McKenna predicts it will again have the desired effect on his latest road assignment.

Indeed, fighting away once again may have its drawbacks in terms of having to do more to catch the judges eyes should this fight go the 12-round distance - a pox yet a reality of pro boxing.

Eubank is a slick boxer who is adept off the back foot and carries decent power, but McKenna - who always seems to have a huge advantage in terms of height and reach - is no slouch in these stakes either.

However, he knows - we all do - that he can’t help going to war and feels the strength work he has increased in the gym will tell, just as it did in Waterford when he enjoyed the buzz of being the party pooper - an outcome he is convinced he will repeat on Friday.

“I loved walking out to Dylan Moran’s crowd; there’s nothing better than silencing them when you knock them out,” he said.

“There’s less pressure on the road as you don’t have to worry about selling tickets or so the pressure is on him.

“The only thing with being the away fighter is that you have to do more to win the rounds, but I’m confident in my skills and believe I will knock him out.

“This is the first time in my career I’ve really dedicated myself to strength and conditioning training.

“I’m lifting heavier and throwing heavier, sitting down on my shots, so I feel like I’m a proper welterweight now. I’ve always had power, but lost it when down at light-welterweight and picked volume over hard shots.

“I could say I’m going to box or this and that, but I say this every fight.

“I think it’s my ADHD mentality that doesn’t allow me to do anything but have a war. Even three seconds of doing nothing in a fight feels like five minutes to me.

“I always have to be busy and active, so I can say I’m going to get in there and box but I know I’ll go in and have a war.”