When Aaron McKenna said he hoped his fight with Liam Smith would steal the show last night in London, he probably hadn’t expected the fireworks that were to come two bouts later, when Chris Eubank Jnr and Conor Benn served up a ferocious battle.

McKenna also might have thought that his 12-round step-up fight with Liam Smith would have caught fire based on Smith’s experience and determination. Because while McKenna’s fight with Smith was not a show-stealer, the Irishman’s performance certainly was.

The 25-year-old Monaghan man, about to board his flight back to Belfast, told BoxingScene he was thrilled with how last night at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium went, as he dropped Smith with a bodyshot on his way to a wide decision victory

“I'm absolutely delighted with the win, and against the former world champion Liam Smith, a legend of the sport, and it's incredible,” said McKenna, who improved to 20-0 (10 KOs). 

“I’ve been saying I wanted a step-up like this now for quite some time, so I finally got my chance, and every time I’ve had a step up, I’ve done it convincingly, and this one was the same. But people got to see a whole different style of me last night, and I showed people I could mix it up. I could box, I could box keep inside, I could turn southpaw and do it all.”

McKenna was imperious and boxed beyond his years, winning by margins of 119-108, 118-108, and 117-109. 

“I still believe there's still a lot more to see, I do,” the Irishman continued. “I believe I showed a lot last night, but there’s still so much more that people haven’t seen, and it takes better fighters to bring the best out of me, and I’ve been preaching for a while, you know, [that] once I’m up against high-level opponents, the better I’ll be, and I’m showing it every time I step up.” 

McKenna has a burgeoning reputation having sparred anyone and everyone in the major West Coast gyms. He has even been down to Mexico for sparring, learning as he’s travelled. 

But, of course, sparring is different to a fight, under the lights where it counts most.
“That’s what we trained for, and in sparring, I was sparring world-level fighters at a weight above, or two weights above, that were ranked top 10 in the world, and throughout the whole training camp, I knew what sort of skills and ability he had, but it was just about doing it on the big occasion. It is different to put it all together when it really matters… Once you have a packed-out stadium, 67,000 people, and on a big occasion like this, the biggest event in the UK, it’s all about showing that you can do it. When there’s a lot of pressure on the line, and I did that last night.”

Beforehand, both Smith – who has a victory and defeat in previous fights with Eubank Jnr – and McKenna had talked of a possible fight with the winner from the main event, and while his goals have not changed, the queue to face the skilled and versatile Irishman will be a long one.

“An ideal opponent for me next, I think, would be Chris Eubank,” McKenna added.  “Considering he was on the same bill last night. I think it would make a lot of sense. And his father [Chris Eubank Snr] also fought in Ireland [against Steve Collins twice and Ray Cloe], so the runback-history would continue.”