New IBO world light-heavyweight champion Padraig McCrory believes his title win at the weekend “is not the ceiling” for his boxing career.
The Belfast fighter won his world crown with an impressive sixth-round knockout victory over Germany’s Leon Bunn in Frankfurt on Saturday night.
He said the win has opened up a number of options and revealed that he hopes to fight again in Belfast in December.
“Germany is notoriously a very difficult place to go,” he said.
“There are not many people that go there and win. To go there, moving up in weight and win in a comfortable fashion makes it much bigger.
“I don’t think this is the ceiling for me, I think there is much more to come and I’m just looking forward to seeing where it goes.”
He added: “It’s massive [for his career]. There are so many options now. I have already spoken with Conlan Boxing [his management team] and the options at light heavyweight and super middleweight are going to be big.”
Speaking at a homecoming event in west Belfast on Tuesday, McCrory did not reveal any names of potential opponents for his next appearance in the ring.
However, he did say that he hopes to feature on the undercard of fellow Belfast boxer Michael Conlan’s bout against Frenchman Karim Guerfi on 10 December at the city’s SSE Arena.
“I could possibly be fighting again in six weeks on the Michael Conlan card, but we have to sit down and speak and see where it goes,” continued McCrory.
“Michael Conlan has fought in Belfast four times and I think I have fought on the four events. It kind of works hand in hand – Mick fights, I fight – and it just keeps getting bigger and bigger.”
McCrory repeated his belief that the world title fight on Saturday should have been stopped earlier than it was, adding that he was surprised how comfortable the victory was and that he knew from the end of the first round that he was going to win.
However, one thing he did say he was not prepared for was the reaction and messages of support he has received from family and friends since the fight.
“It’s been good, it’s blown up. It’s been a blur but it’s been exciting, the number of messages has been insane. I’ve tried to get back to everybody but it’s been tough.
“The support I had out there was surreal. It was hard to believe that it wasn’t in Belfast because it seemed like it was. The crowd want mad. It was a great feeling, a mixture of emotions, mostly joy.
“He started fast and he was quick but towards the end of the first round I was thinking ‘I’m very comfortable here, I could make this fairly easy’.
“After the third round he was in a bad place, he walked back to the wrong corner. If it wasn’t in Germany and it wasn’t for a title the fight probably would have been stopped.”
