By Owen Morgan
Undefeated Welsh flyweight Jay Harris is predicting an electric atmosphere at the iconic Ulster Hall for his IBF Inter-Continental title clash with Irish hero Paddy Barnes this evening.
Commonwealth and EBU flyweight champion Harris (16-0, 8 KOs) collides with Ireland’s three-time Olympian Barnes at the famous Belfast venue.
Ulster Hall has been Northern Ireland’s premier boxing venue for the past 60 years and has hosted many home-grown champions including Wayne McCullough and Barry McGuigan, as well as international legends like world heavyweight champion Sonny Liston.
The venue is famed for its atmosphere and the partisan support reserved for its Irish boxing heroes.
But as he bids to silence Barnes’ enthusiastic hometown support, Harris has highlighted the noisy nature of his own fans.
The Swansea man said: “Since this fight was announced, I’ve had a lot of good interest in people coming over from Wales to watch it.
“Normally, the people I bring to come and watch me are really noisy so I imagine they will be having some sing-offs with the Irish!
“Belfast is a massive fighting city and I’ve seen some of the recent fight nights MTK Global have been putting on there on iFL TV.
“I couldn’t be more excited to box there. The atmosphere on the night is going to be absolutely amazing.”
And Harris predicts there is going to be plenty of entertainment inside the ring to get the fans singing.
“I’m really excited to be fighting Paddy Barnes. I think our styles will make one hell of a fight,” said the Welshman.
Harris has already won Commonwealth, British and EBU crowns and in facing Barnes he bids to add the IBF Inter-Continental crown to his collection.
The bout tops an exciting #MTKFightNight live bill on ESPN+ in association with Top Rank and on iFL TV worldwide.