By Jonny Stapleton
Newly crowned super-bantamweight champion of Ireland, Paulie Hyland, won’t settle for national domination and plans to conquer Europe within the next year-and-half. Hyland outpointed Marc Callaghan 98-93 after ten impressive rounds at the weekend is now destined for greater things.
Hyland didn’t just claim the Irish title in Dublin’s National Basketball Arena on Saturday night, he also managed to increase his growing reputation with a comfortable victory over the experienced former British title challenger Marc Callaghan.
Callaghan has fought all-comers across the water in Britain including former and current European champions in Michael Hunter, Esham Pickering and Rendall Munroe but afterwards stated that Hyland was the best he had ever faced.
Such a compliment was an instant boost to the Tallaght fighter’s confidence and Hyland told the Tallaght Voice afterwards he is ready to take on anybody right now and will upgrade from champion of his country to champion of the continent within 18 months.
“Marc Callaghan is tough cookie and a very experienced fighter and he gave me a great compliment after the fight. He told me I was the best fighter he has boxed and he has fought some great fighters from Esham Pickering to Rendall Munroe and Martin Lindsey to Michael Hunter. He has fought a lot of the big names in this weight division so to hear him say that was nearly as big a buzz as winning the fight,” the former Golden Cobra amateur explained before revealing his immediate and long term pans for the future.
“On September 6th the three of us will be fighting in City West on a Destination Events and Strand security show. I will take a week or two off now, but I would like to jump up a level though, I will fight anyone. I don’t care if it is Pickering, Bernard Dunne or Matthew Marsh, I will literally fight any of them. There is no set gameplan as yet, but I am very confident in myself, I know what I am capable of achieving and so does my camp. In a few more fights I will be European champion,” Hyland concluded.
