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‘A belt is what I've wanted my whole life’ Josh Byrne fired up for his first title fight

PhilBoxing.com




On March 14, Dragon Fire Boxing Promotions hits the Metro City nightclub for the first time this year for Thunderdome 49.

In the main event, Undefeated prospect Jude Grant takes on his first international opponent when he fights Shi Hong Jun of China.

Before the headliner, Jude’s training partner Josh Byrne has his first shot at a state championship against Habib Kheirkhah.

When asked what it felt like to get the call for the title shot, Byrne stated that he was excited to complete one of his boxing goals so quickly.

“When I got the call about fighting for the state title I was stoked” Byrne said. “It's what I've wanted all the way since amateurs, I've never actually won a belt.

“I've always got a medal or a trophy, but a belt is what I've wanted my whole life and I'm going to make it happen.”

In his last fight Byrne fought Bima Prokosar, in what was an action-packed encounter.

Although he came out victorious with a lopsided decision, the Aussie feels that there were still lessons to take away from his performance, mainly regarding the communication with his corner.

“I feel that I need to listen to the corner a bit more” Byrne revealed.

“[My coaches] can see a lot more about what's going on than what I can, they were telling me to go more to the body and at the time it didn't really come across.

“When I sat back and went through the fight with them, they said ‘you need to open your ears a bit more and listen to us because we can see a lot more than what you can.’

“I feel that I will definitely improve on that in this fight and hopefully I'll come away with a knockout.”

In what is said to be the biggest fight of his young career so far, Byrne will fight Habib Kheirkhah. An aggressive fighter who has had experience fighting the best that Big Rigs gym has to offer, having fought Jordan LaRuccia, Jude Grant and Joel Lewis.

With the experience from his teammates, Byrne has said that he has been given pointers regarding how to approach the match up.

“From everything that I’ve been told, he's a very forward guy” Byrne told. “I expect him to bring the action to me and I know I will match that.”

The advice given to Byrne is amongst the best in WA, as it has recently been announced that Jude Grant could be fighting in the WBC Grand Prix, a tournament designed to find the next big star in boxing.

Although the teenager has limited experience in the sport with a 2-0 record, he looks up to his training partners and uses their early success as inspiration to go as far as he can.

“I would love to fight in something like the Grand Prix.” Byrne said “I've been speaking to Tony [Tolj] about it, but I just don’t have quite enough experience yet.

“Something like that will definitely happen once I get a few more fights under my belt.”

With the right training partners and coaches around him, Josh Byrne is an exciting local prospect and perhaps will be involved in a high stakes tournament of his own within the next two to three years.




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