MONAGHAN TEENAGER AARON McKenna will face a live and larger opponent when he steps through the ropes for the seventh time as a professional next month.
Smithborough’s ‘Silencer’, 6-0 with four of his wins quick, will square off with Mexican-born Loretto Olivas on a Golden Boy Promotions bill at Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, California on 30 March.
Their welterweight contest, due to take place over six rounds — McKenna’s first taste of that distance — will be broadcast live on major streaming platform DAZN in the States.
Like McKenna, the 26-year-old Olivas is also unbeaten in his brief professional career to date, winning all three of his outings — one by stoppage — since entering the punch-for-pay ranks last May.
Perhaps more significant within the context of his bout with McKenna, however, is the fact that Olivas generally campaigns as a middleweight (160lbs) whereas the 19-year-old Irish prospect operates two divisions below at 147lbs.
🥊☘️ pic.twitter.com/SGDNEjYOWK
— Aaron Mc Kenna (@Aaronmckenna99) February 21, 2019
Olivas, granted, squeezed himself down to 151.75 for his second outing — a points win over Ernesto Salvidrez (then 1-0, as was Olivas) — but his career-lightest weight is still five pounds north of McKenna’s standard fight tonnage.
The Santa Fe, New Mexico resident is accustomed to facing opponents larger than McKenna, who will nonetheless aim to make a statement by halting the relative novice.
McKenna will fight in the wee hours of what promises to be a huge night for Irish boxing on 30 March, with Assassin Boxing and Boxing Ireland’s Clash of the Titans Irish-title bill airing live from the National Stadium, Dublin, on TG4.
McKenna’s older brother, the prodigiously talented former Irish Senior Elite champion Stevie McKenna, is expected to confirm a debut date in the coming weeks.
The California-based brothers, who count rap superstar Kendrick Lamar among their admirers Stateside, have a shared goal of one day fighting at St Tiernach’s Park, the home of Monaghan GAA.
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