Reveling in his second win in New York, two-division Irish champion Emmet Brennan is now gearing up for a possible rematch with Kevin Cronin on the next St. Patrick’s Day card at Madison Square Garden in the new year.Brennan upped his pro ledger to 5-0 [1 KO] with a hard earned six-round unanimous points decision over tough Argentine Victor Hugo Exner at the Melrose Ballroom in Long Island City, Queens, two weeks ago. The Dubliner returned home ecstatic and bracing for a big 2025.
“Looks like we're getting ready for Paddy’s weekend at MSG, the rematch against Kevin Cronin. I imagine it will be over 10 rounds for the Irish title,” he told the Echo.
Brennan, who’s 33, was a split points winner over Cronin, aka “The Kingdom Warrior,” from County Kerry in their eight-rounder for the vacant Boxing Union of Ireland [BUI] Celtic super middle title at Dublin’s 3Arena last September.
After the loss to Brennan, Cronin, who’s 28 and has a 9-2-1 [5 KO] record, scored a second round TKO over Damian Szewczyk at the SETU Arena in Waterford a day after Brennan beat Exner.
A rematch in New York with Cronin fascinates Brennan, especially with his growing Irish following there.
“You saw the atmosphere [at the Melrose Ballroom] -- great atmosphere,” noted the 2020 Irish Olympian, who also holds the BUI light heavyweight title. “There were a lot of tickets sold and I'm soon becoming a huge, huge ticket seller in New York.”
Brennan is convinced that fighting at the Garden on March 16, St. Patrick’s Day eve, would really help his career. Los Angeles-based Irish super welterweight star “King” Callum Walsh is expected to headline the show.
“[UFC honcho] Dana White and Tom Loeffler, are gonna be behind it, so that's exactly what I need going into 2025. We’ve got some big fights happening in 2025,” Brennan reiterated.
On his recent victory, Brennan said Exner was tough. “He was what we expected and I was happy with the six rounds. That’s what I want -- I'm coming into the sport at 32 or 33, I need as many rounds in professional boxing as possible and I need to fight. That’s why we picked him.
“We [had] the option of fighting three easier guys that we would have gotten out of there in a round or two; [but] we picked this fellow for a reason. We thought he’d have given us the six rounds and that's what we got, so I’m very happy.”
He was a tad more critical of his effort, though, and said: “Obviously, performance-wise, you always want to do a little bit better. But all in all, I’m happy with the performance, happy with the six rounds at a very high pace.”
Brennan's first win in New York was an eight-round majority decision over American Devaun Lee at Sony Hall in Times Square last March.
HARLEY RERUN
For fans that missed Harley Burke’s win over Canadian battler Tevin Terrance at the Paramount in Huntington, Long Island last month, the YES Network is broadcasting the Star Boxing Rockin' Fights card through January.
The Galway-born Yonkers super middleweight bounced back from a flash knock down in the opening stanza to earn a six round unanimous points decision. He improved to 9-0 [7 KOs].
YES will broadcast the card on the following dates:
Fri. 12/20/24 – 8 p.m.; Sun. 12/22/24 – 6 p.m.; Fri. 12/27/24 – 3:30 a.m.; Sat. 12/28/24 – 10 p.m.; Mon. 12/30/24 – 8 p.m.; Tues. 01/01/25 – 4 a.m.
