Bragging rights the highest of stakes for Tyrone McKenna as he prepares to meet Dylan Moran

Despite having faced some of the bigger names in his division, Tyrone McKenna said he feels more motivated to be in an all-Ireland clash with Dylan Moran.

McKenna is 23-5-1 (6 KOs) and has fought at a high level for several years. But he doesn’t only think his experience will be the difference on December 7 in Waterford, Ireland, on a show being held by Conlan Boxing and ProBox TV, he believes his ability and skills will be, too.

And it is the occasion of fighting a countryman that most excites him.

“I love it,” said McKenna. “I’ve fought some big fights as a pro, [Regis] Prograis, Jack Catterall, Ohara Davies, Jose Felix, but my favorite fights are always with Irish fighters. There’s pride, there’s a lot more at stake when you’re fighting a fellow Irishman. There’s a lot more pressure, and I thrive on pressure. I’m very excited about it.

“I love my country. I love Ireland and I love being known as one of the best fighters in Ireland. When I’m put against an Irishman, there’s a lot more at stake for me. I feel the pressure now when I want to get up in the morning and I put in a hard, hard session, because I don’t want to be beat by a man in my own country. I want to be known as the top dog in my country and I don’t want to see anyone from Ireland try to take that away from me.”

The fight will be on ProBox TV, from the SETU Arena, and while Moran has grown up watching McKenna, McKenna has done his homework. 

“I watched him once, against Marku [who stopped Moran in a round], before that fight was made. I watched a lot of tape of him during this camp. He’s a decent level fighter, but I don’t think he’s anywhere near me. 

“He knows and I know that I’m a better boxer than him. My amateur career says that. He knows and I know that he can’t go to war like me. My pro career tells him that. So what can his game plan be to actually beat me? He can’t have a gameplan to beat me because I’m better than him at every aspect of boxing.”  

McKenna has been training in Germany, shutting himself away from all distractions in his bid to focus on the task at hand. 

Defeat could be critical for his career, having lost three of his last four fights, although in good company, to Regis Prograis, Lewis Crocker and Mohamed Mimoune.

“I know Dylan has taken this fight on the back of my two losses [to Crocker and Mimoune] and thought, ‘Right, let’s get Tyrone McKenna, he’s a name in Ireland, let’s get him on the slide.’ And that’s alright to think that. But, to me, having those two losses has motivated me even more. I’ve flown out to Germany [for camp]. I’ve been out here eight weeks. I’ve been away from my kids, I’ve been away from my wife, been away from my friends, been away from absolutely everything, on my own. It feels like a prison sentence. These last eight weeks have felt like prison, and I’ve put everything into this camp because of my two losses. I need to go out there and I need to prove that I’m still capable, that I’m still the same fighter I’ve been and I’ve not lost anything. I need to prove a lot on the night, and I think he’s made a mistake picking this fight.”

McKenna contends that he feels “a brand-new fighter.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever been as confident going into a fight,” he insisted. “Camp has gone unbelievable. Right now, I’m on a mountain doing altitude training, I’ve put absolutely everything into it, so regardless of what level Dylan Moran is, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter how hard his camp went, how brilliant his camp went, he’s just not good enough to beat me, and I fully believe that and I’m fully confident that I’ll beat Dylan Moran.”