Wedding bells will chime for Paddy Barnes next month, meaning the three-time Olympian will rest until September after the final bell rang on his first professional title success last Saturday night.

Paddy Barnes recorded a majority-decision points win over Silvio Olteanu at the Waterfront Hall on Saturday night as the two-time Olympic medallist claimed his first professional title in just his third paid bout.

Paddy Barnes is in for a shock tonight, according to former world-title challenger Silvio Olteanu ahead of their WBO European flyweight title clash in Belfast. The pair headline a Waterfront Hall fight bill that will be broadcast live on BoxNation, with two-time Olympic medallist Barnes challenging for his first professional belt, which ensures a world ranking for the winner, in just his third paid bout.

While many star boxers fall over each other to offer sanctimonious proclamations that the much-hyped meeting of Floyd Mayweather Jr and Conor McGregor is a nail in the sport’s coffin, three-time Olympian Paddy Barnes takes a different view.

Paddy Barnes is keen to silence his doubters when he returns to the ring this summer at Belfast’s Waterfront Hall.