Lightweight Jamie Kavanagh (8-0, 3 KOs) will fight on December 10 on the undercard of the Amir Khan/Lamont Peterson fight at the Convention Center in Washington, D.C. 

The Irish Voice caught up with Kavanagh’s co-manager, Steven Feder, to get the latest on the 21-year-old’s preparations.

“We are just waiting on an opponent,” said Feder, who manages Kavanagh with Freddie Roach. He added that the fight would probably be a six-rounder, though he did not rule out the possibility that it could be eight.

Kavanagh featured heavily on the most recent HBO series of 24/7 as a sparring partner for Manny Pacquiao, who won a majority decision over Juan Manuel Marquez on Saturday night at the MGM in Las Vegas.  Working with the most famous fighter on the planet has its ups, but there is also a flip side.

“Well, anytime you get exposure like that, it is good in one way and bad in another, because opponents might think twice about fighting him,” Feder added.

“Overall I think it was great, and we greatly appreciate the opportunity to work with an eight-time world champion.”

Kavanagh, who spent his early teenage years in Malaga in Spain after his family moved there, is promoted by Oscar De Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions. Sedano Ruiz, Kavanagh’s amateur coach from Spain, is also in LA full-time to keep the Dubliner ticking over day to day at the Wild Card Gym.

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“The Nuisance” was meant to fight on a card in late October, but when the main event fell through the entire card was cancelled.

Feder went on to say that he and the rest of team decided that rather than try and squeeze a fight in before the date in D.C. and risk injury, they chose to let Kavanagh knuckle down and hone his skills in camp with Pacquiao.

The training camp with “Pac Man” capped a year in which Feder thinks his charge has come on leaps and bounds.

“He did a lot of great work this year, we really worked on his game,” he said, adding that that he felt Kavanagh had to concentrate on getting more rounds and more experience under his belt.

If Kavanagh, who was last in action on July 23, emerges victorious and unscathed after this assignment, he will take a short break for Christmas before getting straight back to work.

“Next year is going to be a big year for him,” Feder added, saying that his wish list for the New Year included keeping his fighter active, trying to get him a fight on the East Coast for all the Irish fans here, and talking to Golden Boy about trying to get Kavanagh another fight in the UK or in his native Dublin.  

Feder used to manage light welterweight Dean Byrne (15-1, 6 KOs) when the Dubliner was based in Los Angeles, before “Irish Lightning” decided to move to England to be with his family and pursue his career there.

Byrne defeated Michael Frontin on October 21 and then decided to fight against Frank Haroche Horta on 24 hours notice on October 28 when original opponent Frankie Gavin pulled out. The gamble backfired and Byrne retired after eight rounds.

“We are buddies and I called him after his fight. I was sad about the outcome because there was no reason to take that fight,” said Feder, who added that he was sure that had Byrne a full training camp to prepare, he would have emerged with his hand raised in victory.