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.

“It’s great for me to be stepping out as such and I’m pretty happy and excited about it,” Moore said from his training camp with trainer Harry Keitt in Pennsylvania’s Poconos Mountains. “But it’s a very tough fight I’ve got coming up and so I need to showcase what talent I have and there’s no better place to do it than there in front of such a big crowd.”

The match has been made at a catch-weight of 156 pounds, between light-middle and middleweight, and with a 34-year-old fighter whose 27-9-4 record reflects a number of battles against some of the toughest in the business.

“All his best fights have been at junior middleweight, with Verno Phillips, Corey Spinks and he’s been in with the best of the best, Winky Wright as well and Kassim Ouma was the only guy to beat him inside the distance.

“So it will be a big step up in class but the big stage is where I belong.”

A fighter three years into his professional career, Moore could have expected to have had more than 14 fights on his own record by now but his career has been interrupted by a rib injury and numerous management problems.

Now comfortable with the support he is getting from his Celtic Gloves management company, Moore is looking for the springboard of a victory over Candelo to catapult him into the top bracket of title contenders.

“This can be the start of boosting myself up the ratings,” he said.

“With the right opponents I think I can shoot up the ladder and I don’t think I need to have 27-odd fights. I think if I come out of this fight looking good then I can move on pretty quick and look for a Carlos Baldomir or someone like that, step right up.”

Moore is certainly beginning to get some recognition within the boxing community, last week picking up a ‘Rocky Marciano Future Champion’ award alongside compatriot Lee from the American Association for the Improvement of Boxing on a gala night in New York that saw Wladimir Klitschko, Paulie Maligniaggi and Kermit Cintron land the Champions Awards.

Moore is happy with the way preparations have gone for his big night on March 15 and he is intent on putting on a good show for his fans.

“I’ve been up here now for four weeks and it’s going well. I’m going to try and throw 100 punches a round and put a lot of heat on Candelo. This guy has a big output as well — he holds the record for punches thrown in a fight — so it will be interesting.”