A young Irish boxer is making waves in the sport.
Monaghan teenage boxer Aaron McKenna will make his much-anticipated professional debut at New York City's iconic Madison Square Garden venue on 2 December.
The 2014 European Junior silver medallist will make his bow in the paid ranks on the undercard of future Hall-of-Famer Miguel Cotto’s farewell bout with Sadam Ali in a fortnight’s time, and will open the RingTV.com live stream of the bill.
An eight-time national champion in the underage ranks, McKenna – who fought out of Old School Boxing Club in Smithborough while based in Ireland – inked a promotional deal with Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy in early September, in doing so becoming Ireland’s youngest pro boxer at the age of 18.
‘The Silencer’, who accrued a record of 152-9 during his prodigious amateur career, will take to the ring at The Garden’s 20,789-capcity main arena, following in the footsteps of fellow Ulsterman Michael Conlan who opened his professional account a floor below back in March.
Aaron's brother Stephen McKenna isn't too bad at boxing either, having won 2016 Senior Elite championships. He was initially slated to turn professional last year, then aged just 16, with a debut tentatively scheduled for Mexico due to American labour laws.
Aaron is the youngest fighter signed to Golden Boy, and trains alongside father, Fergal, at Santa Monica’s Iron Gym.
Here's a sneak peek of his quick jabs and punches.
Newley signed to #GoldenBoy! 🇮🇪 Ireland's #1 ranked amateur boxer @aaronmckenna99 "Silencer" makes his anticipated pro debut Dec 2 @thegarden #CottoAli opening the https://t.co/MzhColIR2L livestream 7:00pm ET pic.twitter.com/37kWxNrqjy
— Golden Boy (@GoldenBoyBoxing) November 16, 2017
