The Irish boxer who now lives in Boston has said that there is plenty of life in his career yet.
The 37 year-old made a comeback this past July against Zack Page in New York, which was his first fight since October 2007. McBride lost the fight but he remains adamant that he can win his next challenge this coming Saturday.
Boxing promoter Barry Hearn created the Prizefighter series which is a one night knock out boxing tournament. The format begins with eight fighters who compete in four quarter finals of three by three minute rounds followed by two semi finals and then the actual final. Saturday’s winner will walk away with the grand prize of $51,000 (£32,000).
“I lost on my comeback but I’ve still got the desire and hunger to achieve something big in boxing...i still have that dream I had as a kid to be the first Irish-born heavyweight champion of the world and winning Prizefighter would be a great stepping stone to that goal,” he told boxingscene.com.
Talking about his passion for the sport McBride said: “Boxing is a beautiful sport because one punch can change any-one's chapter and I’ve got three punches in me that can change my life at York Hall.”
The Irishman is most well known for his victory over Mike Tyson in Washington DC in June 2005. McBride was a huge underdog but Tyson pulled out before the seventh round.
“When I fought Tyson I was probably the biggest underdog of the decade but it just showed that if you work hard enough, stick to your plans and believe in yourself anything can happen,” said McBride.
“It was great to meet the man and on the night I also met Muhammad Ali, since I was nine I had always wanted to meet him and he was there because his daughter was fighting. I said to him 'this is the greatest night of my life in boxing, after beating a legend I'm meeting another one,' and he said to me, 'I'm the greatest, you're the latest' which was just brilliant.”
“Everybody said to me that I only beat Tyson because he was at the end, but every man in the ring with two hands is dangerous - and that's the same in Prizefighter, as it's so explosive and all eight fighters will believe they can win it,” he added.
His final words regarding the upcoming fight were very optimistic: “I know I can win it that's for sure - I may have lost a few fights but the desire is there and these fights could be over with one big punch, and I have The Equaliser in my armoury.”
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