Letterkenny date for McCloskey

The unbeaten Dungiven southpaw will be returning to the scene of his victory over former World Champ Cesar Bazan in 2008 as European Championship Boxing comes to Donegal for the very first time.

McCloskey is currently rated number 4 in the World by the WBC and he will be looking to press his claims for a shot at the World's elite with the likes of Amir Khan and undefeated Americans Tim Bradley and Devon Alexander considered the marquee names in the Light Welterweight division.

In the chief supporting contest in Letterkenny unbeaten Cavan star Andy Murray faces a major step up in class as he takes on Johnny Nolasco from the Dominican Republic in an International ten round contest.

The card also features Dublin's unbeaten featherweight prospect, Patrick Hyland, reigning Irish Heavyweight Champ, Coleman Barrett, Cork based Cuban sensations Alexei Acosta, Mike Perez and Luis Garcia, Mayo's unbeaten Super Featherweight Finbarr Eade and the pro debut of Donegal's own Michael McLaughlin.

McCloskey says he's delighted to be returning to Letterkenny to defend his title against former British Champion Morrison. "The last time there against Bazan was a good night and a good atmosphere and it's great to be able to go back there now to defend the European title. Hopefully this will be an even better night.

I know all about Morrison, we came up though the amateurs together and he was generally at the same international tournaments as me so I'm very familiar with him. He's a good fighter, he's strong, very tough and is solid in pretty much everything he does but obviously I believe that I have the tools to do a job on him."

McCloskey's last defence at the King's Hall in Belfast saw him score a spectacular one punch KO over mandatory challenger, Giuseppe Lauri in the 11th round but despite the explosive finish McCloskey was unhappy with his overall performance. "I was nowhere near my best on the night," admitted McCloskey.

"I was annoyed with my performance so I'll be looking to put on a much better display of boxing in Letterkenny. The main thing though was that I won and kept the belt but you are going to have nights like that where you get dragged in to a war and you literally have to fight you're way out of it and I did that in the finish.

"People have questioned my power but I've finished 11 of my 21 opponents inside the distance so I must have some kind of power and I've always believed that if you hit people clean enough and often enough on the chin then no matter who they are you have a chance of knocking them out and that's what happened with Lauri."

McCloskey recently entered the Ring magazine's top ten at Light Welterweight and while he is closing in on a World title shot he is refusing to look too far ahead. "It's nice to be there in the World ratings and in the mix for a World title fight. I think I'm there on merit and it's nice to get that recognition but at the end of the day none of that stuff really matters. The only thing that counts is getting your hand raised at the end of every fight and as long as you focus on the job at hand and take it one fight at a time everything else will fall into place."

Morrison's manager Tommy Gilmour has warned McCloskey that his charge is determined to bring the European title back to Scotland and he is anticipating a thriller. "This is a wonderful opportunity for Barry and it's come completely out of the blue," revealed Gilmour. "Barry realises that this is probably a now or never fight as realistically it will be his last chance to prove himself at European level.

"Both lads had exceptionally good amateur pedigrees and they have similar levels of experience in the pro ranks. They are both good punchers without being devastating hitters so I see it as a war of attrition and I think it will come down to who wants it most."

Morrison has won 18 of his 22 professional fights to date but Gilmour has cautioned McCloskey not to read too much into last years British title defeat to Lenny Daws. "Barry still has a lot to offer and I think he will prove that against McCloskey. He was winning the Daws fight and then the tank just emptied and everyone knows that one of Barry's main strengths is that he has a great engine. We knew something wasn't right and we discovered afterwards that had an iron deficiency that had gone undetected but that's been sorted out now and he's back to his best."

"A Scotsman and an Irishman always makes a good fight," said Gilmour. "Charlie Nash was a Derryman like McCloskey and I was the matchmaker when he fought Jim Watt in Glasgow for the World title and of course Charlie also fought Ken Buchanan for the European title so there is a great tradition there and I'm sure this fight will live up to that."

Promoter Brian Peters believes that it's a night which promises fireworks with both the McCloskey and Murray fights featuring live on RT TWO. "In Paul McCloskey and Andy Murray you have two fighters with 21 straight wins a piece to their name," said Peters. "Both of them are tied in terms of having the longest winning streaks in Irish boxing but those records will be under threat in Letterkenny. Paul is knocking on the door of a World title shot now so he can't afford any slip ups and Barry Morrison is a tough, seasoned pro who will be really fired up for this.

"Equally Andy Murray is in a very tough fight against Johnny Nolasco and it's time now for Andy to step things up. Nolasco has only been beaten by World class operators and he is a real dangerman. He's a former Olympian and he was an exceptional amateur with a record of 288 wins and just 15 defeats so it really is an acid test for Andy. He's already very highly rated in Europe but I think it's important that he makes his mark on the World scene as well and a win over Nolasco will certainly do that."

Tickets for the Hunky Dorys Fight Night priced from €40 go on sale from 9am on Wednesday, September 1st from Ticketmaster.ie / 0818 719300, The Aura, Letterkenny: 074 9106422, The Radisson Blu, Letterkenny: 074 9194444, Eurospar, Dungiven: 028 77741245 or Julie, Dungiven: 07745 698372.