Brian and John Joe settling in in Philly

Cavan Boxing Club’s head coach BRIAN McKEOWN is currently in Philadelphia, one of the world’s toughest fight towns, helping prepare John Joe Nevin for his professional debut. He penned this special report from Philly this week.

It certainly is a long way from Cavan to Philadelphia but we were tuned in on the computer this morning, following up on the performances of clubmates Gary Maughan and Sebastien Stasczieke in their respective semi-finals at the National Stadium. Both lads have progressed to the finals of the Youth and Novice Senior National competition.
Gary followed up last week’s impressive victory with another unanimous points win and now is only one contest away from representing Ireland at the European U18 Championships in Russia later this season while Sebastien has progressed to the national senior novices.
Maughan’s victory was particularly pleasing as, at just 16 years of age, he is in the younger bracket of competitors and debuting in the heavyweight division, with Sebastien competing at the opposite end of the weight scale at flyweight.
Despite his relative inexperience, this will be Gary’s third national final, having lost both last seasons’ Youth and Cadet finals on tight calls to defending champion Cormac Long.
However his victories over Ryan Lindsay from the Emerald club in Belfast and Paulstown’s Thomas Mullaley has left him only one contest from the Europeans later this season. The Cavan teenager has developed immensely in both ability and confidence in recent months and has enjoyed some really tough and competitive sparring from recent Prizefighter winner Frank ‘The Tank’ Sheridan and good quality senior Stephen Flynn in preparation for this competition.
As for John Joe and myself, it has been a busy and productive first week here in Philadelphia and a solid start to the challenge of the US professional game. We arrived on a wet Tuesday morning and were met at the airport by manager Tom Moran and transported to our base in the in the north of the city.
However it was a major disappiontment to learn that the eagerely-awaited debut in Madison Square Garden on February 1 was in jeopardy. However attempts are being made to come up with an alternative fight if it falls through. There is no point getting upset with things beyond our control, so it was straight down to work for the battles ahead.
We currently are located in our own house in the Humleville area of the city and this will be the base for all the GreenBlood fighters for the foreseeable future. Indeed there are three other irish boxers already under contract with GreenBlood — middleweight Ray Ginley, lightweight Anthony Cacace and Super-feather Tyrone McKenna, all from Belfast.
There are a few more major signings due very soon as an attempt is being made to make an Irish assault on the US fight game.
Philadelphia is a real fight town with world champion Danny Garcia living just a few blocks away, while the infamous Trenton prison where Rubin ‘Hurricane’ Carter was incarcarated and Lightheavy James Scott was permitted to continue his career is just a mile up the road and the famous Gettysburg battlefields and the ‘Rocky steps’ are also close by.
The city is steeped in boxing tradidition with not only the fictional Mr Rocky Balboa being a world heavyweight champion, but also joining locals like Sonny Liston, Tim Witherspoon and my own all-time favorite Joe Frazier, who all wore the same heavyweight crown while the King of Con, Don King, also operated from the city.
The gyms and sparring are a world away from the amatuer scene, with no respect given or expected in the squared circle. We are currently using Bozie’s gym in Germantown with John Joe and myself the only white faces in the place, yet it just feels like home from home. We will also be working with Brother Nazeem, trainer of the legendary Bernard Hopkins, on a regualar basis.
We are also working with an extraordinary strength and conditioning coach in Gerry Goldstein who takes us every second morning at 6am, and these sessions have to be seen to be believed
The pattern will see us do strength and conditioning mornings with pads and technique one day and running and sparring on alternatives days, while a sponsorship from LA fitness centre will provide pool, sauna and gym use at any time. It is some change from our gym in Cavan, where we do not even have running water never mind toilets or changing facilities.
As for our fight programme over the coming months, if our first bout falls through and no alternative fight can be lined up, the debut could well take place on a major Boston promotion on the St Patrick’s holiday followed by a New York appearance in April and Ireland, Britain or Philadelphia in May.
It promises to be a busy schedule and I will try and keep your readers and John Joe’s fans updated on a weekly basis.