Light heavyweight Seanie Monaghan (10-0, 7 KOs) is set to fight Santos Martinez (2-2) in the main arena of Madison Square Garden on December 3 in a contest scheduled for six rounds.

Monaghan was last in action in the WaMu Theater at the same venue on October 22 when he stopped Anthony Pietrantonio in the fifth round of the fight.  This time he will make his debut in the main arena as a professional on the undercard of the Miguel Cotto/Antonio Margarito rematch.

Martinez will provide Monaghan another chance to test his skills as he gains more experience as a professional. "He is a puncher and he has a good amateur record," Monaghan told the Irish Voice on Monday.  

Monaghan hoped to fight in an eight-rounder, but with three 12-round title fights on the night and a packed card, he went on to say that it was a challenge for his team to get him on the undercard and that he was happy to be able be part of it in the end. 

Monaghan, from Long Beach, Long Island, only took a few days off after the last fight and was soon back in the gym at work, but his hectic schedule has had one advantage.

“I never had the time to get out of shape," said Monaghan.  "In fact, the danger was that I might over train, so my team is holding me back as there are still four weeks before the fight."

Monaghan has sparred with Olympics-bound 178-pound amateur Marcus Browne and professional super middleweight Will Rosinsky (14-1), who fought well but lost to Edwin Rodriguez recently.

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Monaghan said that because of his late start in the professional game, his trainer Joe Higgins insists that he get quality sparring to be ready for whatever comes his way come fight night. 

Though this is his second consecutive fight on a Top Rank-promoted card, Monaghan is still a free agent.  

As reported a few weeks ago, Monaghan revealed that there had been contact from Ciaran Healy in Ireland about a possible fight for the Belfast man's Irish light heavyweight title.

Though Healy dropped a decision to Bilel Latreche in France last weekend, the Irish title was not on the line.  The lines of communication are still very much open between both parties, but Monaghan stressed that he and his team are looking no further than December 3 at the Garden.

In other news, it looks like it will be the New Year before middleweight Matthew Macklin (28-3,19 KOs) laces up the gloves again. 

"It’s looking more like in 2012," DiBella Entertainment's Director of Public Relations, Kevin Rooney, Jr. told the Irish Voice.  

Rooney went on to say that Macklin’s team is looking into some big fights for the former Tipperary underage hurler.  

Rooney, a professional light middleweight himself with a 2-1 record, is looking to rebound from his first career loss in October and hopes to fight around the turn of the year.

Finally, heavyweight Thomas Hardwick (3-0) is back in action on December 1 in the Bronx.  More on the Dubliner's preparations in next week's issue.