The well-travelled Aaron McKenna needed his passport once again to travel to Japan recently to take part in โPrizefighterโ. Before that Matt Bozeat spoke to the Irishman about his spot in the revamped competition, sparring Terence Crawford and much more.
AS it turns out, Boxing News arenโt the first to ask Aaron McKenna what he would spend his money on should he become Eddie Hearnโs million-dollar middleweight.
Hearn has polished and revamped the โPrizefighterโ format that helped revive Matchroom Boxing more than a decade ago.
The original โPrizefighterโ was a fun, three-round tournament that pushed on prospects and brought back veterans in the space of a few action-packed hours.
The new version starts in Japan on Monday and brings together eight unbeaten middleweights โ combined record 112-11-5 โ to fight over 10 and then 12 rounds over the coming months with the winner walking away with $1 million.
It starts in Osaka on Monday when McKenna (18-0, 9 KOs) faces Jeovanny Estella (14-0, 5 KOs), with the other quarter finals between Ainiwaer Yilixiati (19-1, 14 KOs) and Kieron Conway (20-3-1, 5 KOs), Kazuto Takesako (16-2-1, 5 KOs) and Mark Dickinson (6-0, 2 KOs) and Riku Kunimoto (11-1, 5 KOs) and Eiki Kani (8-4-3, 4 KOs).
Note: Competition began on July 15, 2024. Conway, McKenna, Takesako and Kunimoto all advanced to the semi-finals.
The bookmakers fancy McKenna will be the last man standing โ and richer for it.
โPeople always want to talk about the $1 million,โ he said. โThat is what catches their eyes.
โThe money is life changing, but Iโm trying not to think about it. I want to stay focused on the fight ahead. I donโt want to get carried away. I want to win it and want to win it in style to send a message out there that Iโm the best middleweight in the world.
โIโm going to show people why I think Iโm the best middleweight in the world. I want everyone to know Iโm here to take over.โ
The plan was for the McKenna brothers to be karate champions. Fergal McKenna competed for Ireland in the martial art and fancied sons Gary, Stephen and Aaron want to follow in his footsteps.
โIt was boring,โ said Aaron, the youngest of the three siblings. โThere wasnโt enough action for me. We went to the boxing gym at six years old and I fell in love with it.โ
Fergal has given his sons the best of boxing educations. As a boy, Fergal trained alongside Barry McGuigan at Old School Amateur Boxing Club and soaked up โa wee bit of knowledge of the intensity and the preparation thatโs needed.โ
That was passed on to his sons and Aaron estimates he had 40-50 exhibition bouts before he started boxing competitively at 11 years old.
He went on to win 2011 European Schoolboy gold and 2014 European Junior silver in Russia and faced Devin Haney in the semi-finals of the 2011 Ringside World Championship in Kansas, losing a split decision.
โIโve been all over the world,โ said McKenna. โI have been going to the States since I was 16 and Iโve sparred fighters in gyms in Las Vegas, California and Mexico.
โI spent a year at Robert Garciaโs gym and I sparred Vergil Ortiz nearly every week, 10-round spars.
โHe showed me little Mexican moves you donโt see UK and Irish fighters do. He taught me about holding them off, walking around the ring, not wasting energy.
โThatโs what it takes to be a world champion. You have to do these things. You have to travel the world and learn as much as possible and see all the different styles.
โImagine having all that experience and being only 24 years old?โ
McKenna is 24 years old, 18-0 and is three wins away from winning $1 million.
As with every other prizefighter, McKenna has had his frustrations in his career. He spent 12 months out of action (December, 2019 to December, 2020) as US promoters Golden Boy struggled to get him fights and there was a further nine-month break between June 2022 and March 2023 after Mick Hennessy lost his contract with Channel Five.
The latest frustration came in January when former British title challenger Linus Udofia pulled out of their scheduled fight only days before. Mickey Ellison stepped in and was broken down in six rounds in Liverpool, a ninth stoppage for McKenna.
Thereโs an extra incentive for McKenna to force an early night in Japan with winners by stoppage dividing up a $100,000 pot.
โThe knockout bonus is going to make the fights very exciting,โ said McKenna. โEveryone will want that bonus. Every time I get in there its with the intention to knock out my opponent.โ
He sees โPrizefighterโ as โa chance to put my name out there across the world,โ adding: โThis is the big one. This is the stuff dreams are made of. Iโve been trying to get these fights for a couple of years.
โAny time I have got a big fight lined up they have pulled out the week of the fight. Iโm 18-0 now and 24 years old and this has come along at the right stage of my career. It was difficult to get matched against a big name. Now Iโm guaranteed three fights. This is the right time to show what level Iโm at.
โThis is what all the years of hard work and sacrifice were for. I have been training my whole life for a moment like this.โ
McKenna started training for โPrizefighterโ in his back garden!
โWe have a gym built there,โ he said, โand it has everything we need. Thereโs strength equipment and boxing equipment. We are out there every day training and then when we get a date we head to the United States and the UK for sparring.โ
Sparring partners over the last few months have included Terence Crawford.
โWe were in Las Vegas for a month and got sparring organised with him at the UFC APEX gym,โ said McKenna. โI did 10 four-minutes round with a 30-second break with Steve Nelson, Lester Martinez and Terence Crawford.
โI did five rounds with him [Crawford] and it was like a game of chess. I had to stay switched on every second I was in there because he was always trying to lay traps and set me up for something.โ
McKenna made a good impression.
โBo Mac (trainer Brian McIntyre) and Terence were very impressed with us,โ he said. โThey were saying they want us back for more sparring.
โThatโs great to hear from someone I rate the pound-for-pound No 1 in the world.โ