Ireland aiming to follow in hero Ingle’s footsteps

Ireland will fight in the featherweight division, the same weight category that Paul Ingle fought in, and the Westway man is hoping to follow in the footsteps of one of Scarborough’s greatest ever sportsmen.

“If I can achieve anything anywhere near what Paul did in his career I’ll be delighted.

“It looks like being a great time for boxing in Scarborough with me and George turning professional, and there are more lads out there who could do it as well.”

Ireland, who has signed with promoter Stefy Bull, is aiming to make his debut in the professional ranks in May once he has completed the formalities with the British Boxing Board of Control.

Ireland said: “I am looking forward to fighting now, this has been a couple of years in the making.

“I’m hoping to make my debut in May, but I need to get the medical and formalities sorted before I can sit down with Stefy and sort something out.

“It might end up being his show on May 2, which is also the night of Floyd Mayweather v Manny Pacquaio, so it could be a great night.

“I have to thank my boss at JM Engineering as I’m going to be working while training at Westway and I would have no chance without them helping me out.”

Ireland’s promoter Bull is confident the Scarborough man can make the leap into professional boxing quickly.

He said: “Subject to clearance from the Board of Control, the aim is for Shaun to make his professional debut at the Doncaster Dome on May 2.

“We’re not going to make any big statements like he’ll be world champion or this, that and the other, we will get some fights under his belt and see where we go from there.

“I’m looking forward to working with Shaun.

“He’s got a good person to look up to in Ingle.

“I fought on the undercard when he boxed a good friend of mine in JonJo Irwin, so I know him well, he was a great fighter and I have no doubt Shaun will look to catch up with him at some point.”