Irish Heavyweight Kevin McBride faces long odds against undefeated Mariusz Wach

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Six years ago, Kevin McBride stood in front of a pack of skeptical reporters and promised to hit Mike Tyson so hard the former undisputed heavyweight champion would feel like he was hit by the “whole of Ireland.”

Fans and experts scoffed, but McBride delivered, ending Tyson’s career with a sixth-round knockout that remains one of the biggest upsets in boxing history.

As he prepares for his latest test July 29th, 2011 against undefeated Polish heavyweight Mariusz Wach, McBride – now 38 – is channeling the same swagger he brought to the ring six years ago Tyson, again looking to land a blow powerful enough to reverberate through the streets of his native Clones, Ireland.

“Hopefully, I can connect,” McBride said, “and the Irish will be singing again.”

Three months removed from a unanimous decision loss to former cruiserweight champion Tomasz Adamek, McBride (35-9-1, 29 KOs) will face Wach (24-0, 12 KOs) for the vacant World Boxing Council (WBC) International heavyweight title in the 12-round main event of “Heat Wave,” presented by Jimmy Burchfield’s Classic Entertainment & Sports at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. McBride’s bout against Wach is one of two title fights on July 29th; Elvin Ayala (23-5-1, 11 KOs) of New Haven, Conn., will battle former two-time world champion Israel “Pito” Cardona (36-10, 28 KOs) of Hartford in the 10-round co-feature for the vacant WBC U.S. National Boxing Council (USNBC) middleweight title, a belt once held by former world champions Paul Williams and Lamont Peterson.

 Once again, McBride faces long odds; Wach is a shade taller at 6-foot-7 ½ and is also seven years younger than his opponent. Originally from Krakow, Poland, Wach now trains in North Bergen, N.J., under the tutelage of Juan and Carlos De Leon, who are famous for their work with undefeated heavyweight “Baby” Joe Mesi.

Though he’s admittedly unfamiliar with the WBC International title and its illustrious history – Wladimir Klitschko, Oliver McCall and John Ruiz are among a prestigious list of former champions – McBride is well aware of what a victory could mean as his career draws to a close. More than half of the fighters who’ve won this belt have gone on to win a major world title, and the winner on July 29th might get an opportunity to add to that list.

 For McBride, it’s now or never; despite beating Tyson, he’s never fought for a major world title. After getting knocked out by Andrew Golota in 2007, he took three years off before returning to the ring last summer against journeyman Zack Page. McBride hasn’t had much success in his comeback, winning only once in four tries within the past year, but he knows it only takes one punch to shock the world and take his career to new heights.

 “Every fighter has a dream,” McBride said. “I want to be the second Cinderella story of this century. Everyone counted out [former two-time world heavyweight champion] George Foreman [against Michael Moorer in 1994] and he came back and won a world title when he was 45 years old.

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