LUKE THOMAS benefited from training alongside the three Cork-based Cuban professionals when he won his third successive national juvenile boxing title at the National Stadium last week.

IRISH boxing embraced a new star at the weekend as the jet-lagged Cuban southpaw sensation, Ismaikel ‘Mike’ Perez was ringside for the national senior championship finals in Dublin just hours after he touched down at Cork Airport.

FORMER world amateur heavyweight champion, Mike ‘El Rebellio’ Perez, is set to make Cork the base from which he will challenge the world professional heavyweight title in a dramatic move that is sure to send shockwaves throughout the boxing world.