Paul McCloskey and Barry Morrison will meet in Letterkenny

Paul McCloskey will defend his European light-welterweight title against Barry Morrison in Letterkenny on 2 October.

The Dungiven boxer, who is unbeaten in 21 professional fights to date, will be hoping to successfully defend his crown for a second time.

Morrison has won 18 of his 22 fights to date but a win for McCloskey could pave the way for a world title shot.

McCloskey stopped Italian Giuseppe Lauri in the 11th round of his previous defence at the King's Hall on 11 June.

McCloskey says he is delighted to be returning to Letterkenny to defend his title against former British champion Morrison.

"I know all about Morrison, we came up through the amateurs together and he was generally at the same international tournaments as me so I'm very familiar with him," explained McCloskey.

"He's a good fighter, he's strong, very tough and is solid in pretty much everything he does but obviously I believe that I have the tools to do a job on him.

"I was nowhere near my best in my last fight at the King's Hall - I was annoyed with my performance so I'll be looking to put on a much better display of boxing in Letterkenny.

"The main thing though was that I won and kept the belt but you are going to have nights like that when you are dragged into a war and you literally have to fight your way out of it.

"People have questioned my power but I've finished 11 of my 21 opponents inside the distance so I must have some kind of power.

"I've always believed that if you hit people clean enough and often enough on the chin then no matter who they are you have a chance of knocking them out and that's what happened with Lauri," added McCloskey.

In the chief supporting contest, unbeaten Cavan star Andy Murray faces a major step up in class as he takes on Johnny Nolasco from the Dominican Republic.

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