Boxing:The Italian standing between John Duddy and a victorious return to the National Boxing Stadium has warned the Derry middleweight that he is ready to spoil the homecoming.
Duddy returns to the scene of many memorable amateur nights for his first professional fight in Ireland with a record of 20-0. A win over Alessio Furlan on July 14th would bring him a little closer to a tilt at the European title.
Furlan, however, is not fazed by the Irishman's impressive record and claims to have noted weaknesses in his style that can be exploited.
"I have great respect for John Duddy but I will come with my own tactical plan to beat him," said the Italian today. "He is tough and not afraid of anyone so he's just like me in that respect. I will be out to spoil his homecoming but I'll buy Duddy a pint of Guinness afterwards to apologise for beating him.
"I don't think Duddy is an especially big puncher, but he does wear his opponents down with an impressive work-rate. He has some boxing skills but he's mainly a fighter and I see some flaws in his defence. I'm not underestimating him because he's definitely a tough fighter," said the Italian today.
These are all charges faced by Duddy before. The 27-year-old is not one to take a step back, as his recent battle with veteran Yory Boy Campas proved. Duddy won the bout but was barely able to see his fans celebrating afterwards.
Furlan was a fan after seeing that one. "I've seen Duddy's fight with Yory Boy Campas and it was a real war. Those are the kind of fights that I love to be involved in."
The Italian can go the distance too. In March, he fell just short of the final bell when losing to European champion Sebastian Sylvester. It was an impressive performance when considering the German this month beat Finland's Amin Asikainen - one of the hottest prospects of the division - in 11 rounds.
Asikainen was a fighter Duddy had his sights on but the Irishman will be focused on Furlan and a crowd pleasing performance for now.