JAMES POWER BECAME Ireland’s youngest ever professional fighter overnight as he opened his account in the punch-for-pay ranks with a second-round stoppage of local journeyman Omar Santos in Tijuana, Mexico.
The 17-year-old can’t obtain an Irish licence until he turns 18 next April, and opted to take the plunge just south of the U.S-Mexican border where he was granted a licence by the Tijuana Boxing Commission.
Power [1-0, 1KO] will return to Ireland tomorrow before knuckling down for his Leaving Cert year at Coachford College.
Sunday night provided its own examination but one which Power passed with flying colours: opponent Santos certainly wasn’t there to roll over but the two-time Irish champion forced him onto the backfoot before dishing out significant punishment to seal victory in the second verse.
“He came to fight!” Power told The42. “But I pushed him back and worked. I relaxed in the second and got the job done.
“The Mexican fans love the Irish boy!”
Advisers Assassin Boxing and Andy O’Neill are more than content to adhere to Power’s school schedule, and so the October midterm could provide the last real opening to squeeze in a second fight before the business end of the school year.
In any case, the Cork youngster is up and running in the pro game, displacing Monaghan’s Aaron McKenna as the youngest paid fighter from these shores.
