Welsh Area super-lightweight champion KIERAN GETHING (9-2-2, 2KOs) is back in the ring, 22-months on from his last fight, on this Saturday at the Vale Sports Arena in Cardiff.
Craig Woodruff (10-6, 4KOs) and Joe Fitzpatrick (10-1, 7KOs) headline the joint Warren Boxing Management and Priority Promotions event in a 10-round Celtic lightweight title battle.
Ahead of Saturday’s fight, we dropped in to see Kieran at his training gym in Newport to see how he’s shaping up.
We talk about his training, family life, his long term plans, and more. But first, we wondered how it felt to get back into the ring after such a long lockdown.
It was almost two years ago, November 2019), when the MTK Global fighter last fought, live on Sky Sports, in the Golden Contract quarter-finals. He reached a stalemate with Southern Area titlist Jeff Ofori, who was 10-1 at the time, as three ringside judges couldn’t split them so the deciding vote fell to referee Kieran McCann, who put the home fighter through over the Welshman.
At the time Kieran said…..
“My last fight was on a Golden Contract show, so it was a good platform. I had a draw officially, then the ref put Jeff Ofori through, so weren’t really happy with that decision but you have to accept these things in boxing.”
Since then Kieran’s flourishing boxing career was thwarted by COVID-19, then further stalled by an elbow injury that required corrective surgery last December.
Now he’s back in action this month and looking forward to fighting again. Kieran told us…..
“To actually have a date adds a new layer of motivation. I plan to get back in the ring to get some rounds under the belt and just to look good as I get back to a winning fight.”
His opponent will be Manchester’s Josh Cook (0-3), who stands at over six-feet-tall and has never been stopped.
Kieran, who hails from Abergavenny, continued…..
“It’s just turning another page in the diary, this will give me the motivation to get back down in weight to where I was, shake off the ring rust, that’s all it is.
“Then after this fight, I’ll be looking at getting back out in October for a six-rounder. The plan is to have this four, then six, then eight, then a big fight next year.”
Due to his previous trainer spending increasingly more time overseas, Kieran made a move to Tony Borg’s gym and his 14th pro fight will be the first one together as a new team, although his newest trainer has been in his corner many times before.
“I knew Tony [Borg] and [Billy Reynolds] anyway, having previous relationships in boxing with them both, Tony has been in my corner before, so it’s just a change of scenery that won’t faze me too much. Hopefully we’ll be able to start this off with a brilliant performance.”
After so long away, Kieran believes it’ll be a new fighter on display in his next performance…..
“Hopefully, fans are going to see a more aggressive yet economical version of me. I’ve gone from throwing a thousand punches a round to a lot less than before. Over 10 rounds, it won’t be viable to throw so many, so I try to be more economical with everything and to make everything count.”
Kieran will be joined on the card by the ‘Rhoose Rhino’ Jay Munn (4-0); ‘The Italian Stallion’ Angelo Dragone (5-2) from Carmarthen; Barry Island’s Jason Sillet (5-2); as well as debutants Ben Crocker from Swansea; Kyran Jonefrom Hengoeds; and featherweight Callum Lee.
We’ll follow Kieran closely over the coming months and if you’d like to follow him now on Twitter, go here. @KiwiGething
Kieran Gething is proudly sponsored by Fit-Bag; Autarki and Philip Jones Timber Products.
