Four weeks and counting before heavyweight Thomas Hardwick makes his pro boxing debut May 19 at mid-Manhattan's Roseland Ballroom.
No opponent has been announced yet for the 2010 New York Daily News Golden Gloves novice champion who left the amateurs with an undefeated 8-0 record.
"We're looking at a few names," Hardwick told the Echo last Sunday.
Should he emerge victorious and unscathed from the scheduled four-rounder, the Yonkers resident will fight again June 24 on a Queens card co-promoted by Jim Foley's Old World Boxing. Foley, from County Tipperary, is Hardwick's promoter.
Hardwick, a 26 year-old out of Dublin, has been training hard since recovering from the arm injury that kept him out of this year's Golden Gloves.
"I'm back in the gym and sparring away," he said.
He's been sparring up to nine rounds per session at Gleason's Gym in Brooklyn -- under the watchful eye of trainers Jihad Abdul Aziz and Grant Selig -- and working with a strength coach at the New York Sports Club in Manhattan in order to bulk up.
That's gone pretty well and Hardwick, who fought at 201 pounds in the amateurs is now up to a comfortable 220 pounds and feeling good.
"When I started I [felt] sluggish and slow, now I'm getting my speed and snap back. I've put on 20 pounds, but it's good stuff," he noted.
McCLOSKEY LOSS
European titlist Paul McCloskey lost by sixth round technical decision to Amir Khan in his bid for the WBA light welterweight crown at the M.E.N. Arena in Manchester, England, last Saturday.
The previously undefeated Derryman [22-1, 12 KOs] suffered a cut over his left eye from a clash of heads in the sixth stanza. The fight went to the cards where all three judges had Khan ahead 60-54.
McCloskey's furious camp demanded a rematch that Khan [25-1, 17 KOs] immediately rejected, arguing that he'd won every round against the challenger and that McCloskey wasn't on his level.
It was Khan's third win over Irish opposition. He previously stopped Michael Gomez [TKO5] and Oisin Fagan, [TKO2], both in 2008.
STURM TROOPER
Looks like Matt Macklin will take up the opportunity spurned by the Andy Lee camp and challenge German Felix Sturm for the WBA middleweight title, July 2 in Cologne.
Last month, Lou DiBella, Lee's promoter, told the Echo that they had been offered a shot at Sturm but Bryan Vera, the only man to defeat the 25-1 Irishman, would likely be Lee's next major fight.
Now the 32-year-old Sturm [35-2, 15 KOs] will defend against Macklin, a former Irish national champion with Tipperary roots.
"This will be one of my toughest fights, because I know I can only win against Macklin when I am in top form," said Sturm.
Nicknamed "Mack the Knife," Macklin [28-2, 19 KOs] is ranked third in the world by the WBA. The 28 year-old makes his home in Birmingham.
