The only worry Jay Byrne has for his brother Glen Byrne going into a grudge match with James Freeman is that the Armagh native won’t turn up.
The Dubliner and Freeman have agreed to trade leather this summer and will fight for the BUI Celtic title in Pearse Stadium, Galway on June 27.
The clash, which plays out on the undercard of a Kieran Molloy-Kassie Benjamin showdown, will see the resolution of a nigh-on secret grievance.
Both will deny any real beef, but tension between the pair has been simmering to the extent that it has Irish boxing fans’ mouths watering – and when they boil over in the open Galway air many expect something delicious to be served up.
However, fighter turned promoter Jay Byrne worries the clash may not be on the menu when GBM roll into Connacht with the DAZN cameras.
The older brother and promoter of one half of the bout hints that Ian Guaghran managed Freeman may not be keen on the domestic dance and as a result may look for a way out over the coming weeks.
“I know Glen will beat him,” Byrne said.
“Glen is the favorite because he has fought better opponents and been involved in a lot better fights. I watched James’ debut and I think he lost that fight 3-1. I spoke to his opponent on that night, Jordan Grannum, and he agrees.
“Glen is tougher, James hasn’t shown if he has a chin yet, or if he has any power. Ok, Glen isn’t a massive puncher but he’s strong, too strong for James,” he adds before expressing concern.
“I have a fear James will pull out and feign an injury, but if he makes it on the night, Glen will stop him.”
Freeman, who has spent time in Portugal training alongside Dillian Whyte, has accepted the fight, and there is nothing to suggest he won’t ring walk next month.
There is also an element of Byrne backing his brother, bigging up his fighter, and playing promoter with his comments. Although he does move to explain why he believes his concerns are valid.
Byrne claims that after Freeman had initially called for the fight, he rebuffed offers to share the ring with the recent BUI Celtic title challenger.
“Glen would be similar to how I was as a fighter. He is tough and would fight anyone, so we did go looking for that fight and it was refused.
“James went very very quiet on the whole thing. We went as far as to request he fight in a six-round fight so he would be eligible to fight Glen for the BUI Celtic title on my show in April. He was fighting one of his manager’s other fighters, so that could have been easily arranged, but they didn’t do that, so we couldn’t do it in April.”
Like both boxers, the JB Promotions boss man has tried to play down talk of genuine beef, but in doing so, explains where the needle comes from.
“Last March Glen boxed at the Ulster Hall. It was his TV debut, a big moment for him on DAZN. He was nervous as you can get. He’s still a novice in terms of professional boxing, so he was a pure novice then, and he’d never boxed on TV. He was also the first live fight on the bill. The nerves got him and he came out of the traps at a really fast pace and blew his arse after three rounds. In fairness, it was his first six-rounder, and he was dealing with nervous energy. Admittedly, it was a poor performance. He won the fight but all the factors involved meant he didn’t box to his best.
“While the fight was going on, James Freeman decides to run down to Jamie and Mick Conlan, saying, ‘get me him next’, ‘I beat him’, ‘I want him next’.
“There is no beef as such but I just felt he disrespected Geln, I felt he should known better because he’s a novice pro with no amateur background like Glen. I think he should have had more respect for Glen, he showed no respect.”
