Moore gets his chance in Candelo face off

JAMES MOORE will get his biggest chance yet to show there is a third US-based Irish boxer with world-title credentials when he tops the bill at Madison Square Garden on March 15.

The Arklow, Co Wicklow, junior middleweight is 14-0 (10KOs) heading into the biggest fight of his pro career against the experienced Colombian Juan Carlos Candelo. The fight is the main attraction on the “A Fistful of Shamrocks” pre-St Patrick’s Day card at the 5,500-capacity MSG Theatre.

It is a familiar arena for Moore, 30, who has twice fought there on the support card to his friend and imminent world middleweight title challenger John Duddy, while former Irish amateur team-mate Andy Lee has made a name for himself fighting out of Detroit’s famous Kronk Gym, getting to 15-0 in half the time he has been a pro. Yet Moore now believes he has a chance to emerge from the shadows of his contemporaries.