'Dudey' to do 'The Bizness'

This weekend's opponent, Barry 'The Bizness' Morrison in theory should provide no real test for McCloskey, but slight doubts were cast over the ability of the Dungiven southpaw in his first defence when he allowed himself to become embroiled in a brawl with Italian counterpart Guiseppe Lauri.

Whilst McCloskey emerged victorious after landing a thunderbolt knock-out shot on Lauri in the 11th round, it was unusual to say the least to see 'Dudey' speaking to the press afterwards showing visible signs of battle on his previously unblemished face.

McCloskey's main pugilistic prowess is that he is virtually impossible to hit and the fact that he became involved in a 'scrap' in his last bout was a mistake that was acknowledged by both the fighter himself and his management team.

However, mistakes are meant to be learned from and it should also serve as a timely warning to a man with serious chances of a world title crack that nothing ever should be taken for granted, especially in boxing.

In a training session open to the media last week, McCloskey readily admitted that mistakes had been made, but were unlikely to be replicated on Saturday night against Scot, Barry 'The Bizness' Morrison.

"I am generally a boxer, not a fighter, and I plan to show that at the weekend in Letterkenny. This game is all about winning and I won and kept the belt last time out. That is what is important, and I plan to show my skill and put on a show this week."

John Breen, McCloskey's manager echoed his man's confident outlook and said he would avoid another potentially costly toe-to-toe confrontation.

Breen said: "Paul was so mad at himself for getting drawn into the wrong kind of fight last time out against Lauri, but, sometimes in the heat of the moment, you get dragged into a fight. Paul has unbelievable boxing ability but he didn't show it last time out.

"He's learned a lot from that last fight though and it won't happen again. I honestly think he will break Morrison down and break his heart, similar to the way he beat Colin Lynes to win the British title."

Whilst McCloskey should comfortably outclass his Scots opponent this Saturday at the Aura in Letterkenny, he is taking nothing for granted.