Student Sutherland to give masterclass

ONE European champion and two Commonwealth champions went to the scales in defence of their titles but, amid he chaos at The Hub in DCU, fans jostling for a glimpse left no one in any doubt who the star act was at yesterday’s big fight weigh-in when Darren Sutherland, himself a student and former resident on campus, stepped up.

Tonight Sutherland, one of Ireland’s three medallists from the Beijing Olympics, will make his professional debut under lights at The Helix from where Sky Sports will beam an eight-bout programme to millions of viewers, many of whom have waited for the Dubliner’s official inauguration into the paid ranks.

Even Sutherland himself has been taken aback by the amount of interest his first professional fight — a six-round super middleweight contest against Georgi Iliev from Bulgaria — has generated.

Iliev’s only victory in four professional fights to date came at the beginning of the year when he stopped Keith Cresham from Castlebar on the Andy Lee undercard at UL Arena.

“I can’t believe the attention and the interest there has been around me and I haven’t even had a fight yet,” Sutherland admitted. “Even my trainer (Brian Lawrence) has been saying he has never seen so much interest or so many people around for a first fight. I just want to get the show on the road.”

The 26-year-old Dubliner showed no signs of nerves when he stepped on the scales at 77.4 Kgs — his opponent, who was late arriving for the weigh-in — was over a kilo lighter.

“No. No nerves. In fact I am very excited, rarin’ to go,” Sutherland said. “It is going to be an exciting fight. I am really looking forward to showing everyone what I can do.”

He admitted that The Helix on DCU campus was a very special place for him, having studied Sports Science there for so long.

“This is my university,” he said. “Starting out here was very important to me. It is definitely a one-off because, hopefully, things will get too big to stage it here again. It is nice. It is making a bit of history. Not too many guys get to fight in their university. It is a special time for me.

“I suppose it came about more or less by accident. I mentioned it — I asked about it. Declan Brennan who was mentoring me here as well and also helped me with the negotiations with the different promoters that I went to see — suggested it to Frank and when they mentioned it to Sky, they were really happy with the idea.”

His trainer, Brian Lawrence was the most relaxed person around the weigh-in, pointing out that in training, Sutherland looked like a guy who had 12 pro fights behind him.

“That’s a great compliment but I am not going to get carried away,” Sutherland said. “I have set myself high targets and I have big ambitions so I am relying on and trusting the team I have signed up with.”

Frank Moloney was somewhat bemused at the bedlam in the foyer of the DCU Sports Hall.

“I am curious about it,” he said. “If it is like this for his first fight, it can only get better. I really do believe he will deliver for the people of Ireland.”

Sutherland will have as many as six fights next year and already finding sparring partners is becoming a problem for Maloney.

“We have to get the Iliev fight out of the way first and then Darren can enjoy the holidays with his family before he knuckles down again,” Maloney said.

“It has been a whirlwind few weeks for him and I dare say he can’t wait to see his family and get some rest. As regards sparring partners I have a good overseas network so it will not be a problem bringing sparring over, but I like the idea of Darren using gyms in Britain.

“I have been offered some facilities in Manchester by one of my associates where he says there will be good sparring and that is a possibility.”

Maloney was not impressed by the fact that Iliev knocked out Castlebar’s Keith Cresham on a previous visit to Ireland in a six-round super-middleweight bout.

“He could have knocked out King Kong for all I care. He won’t be repeating that performance tomorrow night,” he quipped.

Dubliner Paul Hyland (12-1) faces Eugene Heagney (7-1) in a local battle where the winner could be lined up to face European bantamweight champion Ian Napa.

London based Irishman Martin Power (19-3) faces a tough test against Gary Davies (7-2-1).

Manchester’s Craig Watson (13-2) defends his Commonwealth welterweight title against Adnan Amar (22-1), a protégé of Dubliner Brendan Ingle. Jason Booth (30-5) risks his Commonwealth bantamweight crown against Sean Hughes (15-7-1).