'I didn't want to let them down'- Laois pro boxer fights through illness to stay unbeaten

Mountmellick boxer Cian Reddy has taken his professional record to 3-0 after victory in Bradford on Saturday, February 15. He defeated Jake Smith by four rounds to nil in the same venue where he made his debut only seven months earlier.

He spoke to the Leinster Express/ Laois Live to express his thoughts on the victory and explain how an illness in the lead-up to the fight almost forced him to withdraw.

“I'm happy to get the third one out of the way. This camp was a bit different because I got sick in the middle of it and couldn't train for two weeks. That took a lot of my confidence away from the work I'd previously done in the first couple of weeks of camp. I just didn't know where I'd be at. I stopped sparring like a month out from my fight just to try and get better. You don't want to be sparring a week before a fight after you've been sick in case you get a relapse.

“I was just happy to get in and get the win and a lot of people have said it was a good performance and my coach was happy too. My opponent came up to me after the fight and said I was one of the best prospects he's been in the ring with and he's boxed a lot of very good prospects. He also told me I hurt him down to the body and only for my coach Wayne told me to just stick to my boxing and not take any risks, I probably could have gone through the gears and maybe forced a stoppage. It was just a comfortable performance and I was able to get the win without taking too many risks. It was good to get that one out of the way and move on to the next one,” he said.

Reddy has had three fights to date and is yet to lose a round but he’s remaining level-headed and knows that there’ll be tougher fights down the line when the number of rounds increases.

“I haven't lost any rounds yet in my first three fights but as the competition steps and we go to more rounds, the competition is going to get harder and the fights are going to get more competitive. The first three were very good development fights and there's no rush either. In every fight so far I’ve faced three different types of opponents. My first opponent was a southpaw, the second was a come-forward, rugged opponent with a big overhand right and he tried to land that which meant I had to keep jabbing to make him miss. My third opponent the other night was a good switch-hitter, very crafty, very good defensively, and didn't open up a whole lot. It was hard to pierce through the guard and I had to pull the gloves a few times and look for little gaps. As I said, I've only been a pro since my debut in July 2024 so there's no rush on stepping up to the big fights yet and I’ll just continue to improve in the gym so that I'm ready for them when they come down the line,” Reddy said.

The Mountmellick native will be fighting on home soil for his next fight which is due to be announced soon but his dream of bringing a boxing show to Laois will have to wait. You can watch the full fight below with the interview continuing below it.

“I have my next fight confirmed which I'm going to be announcing this week and it's going to be on a big show in Ireland. Unfortunately, it won't be in Laois yet but that'll be for a big fight for maybe later this year or early next year. I think that will bring a lot of attention to professional boxing in Laois especially as there haven’t been any professional boxing shows in Laois so to be the first to be able to do that will be unbelievable. It will be a proud moment because I've always wanted to do it and there have been a lot of talented boxers to come out of Laois but unfortunately, not a lot of them have gone professional and not everybody wants to do it either. Hopefully, I’ll have a couple more fights this year and I’ll improve between the fights and just be the best version of myself in every fight,” he said.

The support that Reddy has got since he turned professional has been nothing short of extraordinary. So much so that even when he felt the full effects of his sickness, it was them who pushed him over the line as he ‘didn't want to let them down because the support can be hard enough to get the first time’.

“It's always a proud moment when you win. The lads get behind me and a lot of family members do too. I sold a good few tickets to boxers that I know from Leeds who train with me and just know me from the gym. It's all about building them connections with people so like down the stretch when they have your back as well. I brought a good crowd, that's the only reason to be honest that I didn’t pull out of the fight because of how unwell I'd been and how under the weather I'd been. A lot of people had flights and accommodations booked so I didn't want to let them down because the support can be hard enough to get the first time. 

“People think that I did a 6 or an 8-week camp and some things went wrong. I've been doing this since I was 10, or 11 years old, it's not that I only started boxing the last 6 or 8 weeks that's just the time you really up your training for the training camp. I said to myself that I should have enough to get through and get the win regardless obviously. I was still nervous, you'd be nervous for every fight but just because of what happened. I've done this for a long and I believed in my training not just from the last 6 or 8 weeks but since I've been a kid. Just working off my jab, minding my defence and cruising as comfortably as possible without taking too many risks,” Reddy added.

Despite battling illness in the lead-up to his third professional fight, Reddy pushed through to secure another victory. The Laois boxer admitted that no training camp is ever perfect, with injuries and setbacks always a possibility, but overcoming adversity made this win even more rewarding

“During every camp, there are little things. Everybody will say this is my best camp yet, they're not going to say it's been a bad camp but there's always something. In my first one, I got a really bad ear infection. The second one, I got an ankle injury that forced me out but when you're training at high-intensity levels constantly, there are going to be things that go wrong in them. You have to overcome them as best you can. It made it a bit more special to get the win having been under the weather but look these things happen and you have to just push on as best you can to try and get over the line with the win I suppose but yeah it's good that I got the win,” he ended.