Boxing:Ireland's Olympic silver medallist John Joe Nevin has confirmed he is joining the professional ranks, joining Amir Khan's new promotional company Super Fight.
The 23-year-old Mullingar bantamweight lost out to Britain’s Luke Campbell in his London 2012 final and was considering staying amateur to go for gold in Rio de Janeiro.
But Nevin has chosen a future in paid boxing, signing up with Khan, who announced he will fight at the Manchester Evening News Arena on January 19th.
Nevin said: “This was a really tough decision for me as I have trained with the high performance team for many years and we are a tight family unit.
“I have enjoyed my time with the Irish team and am extremely proud of what we have achieved to date. I would like to win a world title and this is the route that I need to take.
“I am excited for the future and I’m looking forward to continuing my relationship with my trainer and working with Super Fight Promotions. I decided to go with Amir as he is a professional boxer and understands the professional game.
“He himself was an Olympic medallist so he has gone through the transition from amateur to professional. I’m looking forward to my first professional fight in the new year.”
Khan, who was a silver medallist at the 2004 Athens Olympics, said: “When I saw John Joe Nevin at the Olympics he really impressed me and I knew right away he was a real talent.
“He’s slick, moves well and has a lot of attributes that I know will take him very far as a professional.”