BELFAST – After 20 years of friendship, this is what it has come to. Tommy McCarthy and Steven Ward, Belfast cruiserweights who grew up with one another, have sparred around 1,000 rounds together and who have travelled the world together as amateurs, were left wondering how close they really were as they stared one another down ahead of their fight on Saturday.

Their clash has been heralded as a “must-win” for both fighters, with promoter Eddie Hearn suggesting the loser will have nowhere to go.

“Ward against Tommy, that’s another one,” he said, talking about the fate awaiting whoever is vanquished. “Goodbye, see ya later.”

And so it is with these high stakes that the friendship took a new and uncertain turn.

The fighters were left questioning their relationship and their history.

Not unlike the film with Antonio Banderas and Woody Harrelson, Play it to the Bone, Ward and McCarthy add depth and breadth to an interesting bill at what is sure to be a raucous SSE Arena, known locally still as the Odyssey. 

I asked Ward how close he had been with McCarthy over the years, and he said they had been friendly, although not to the point where they text each other ‘Happy Christmas’ every year.

“I would consider Steven a friend,” McCarthy told BoxingScene. “Like, for me, when this fight come up, it was just business. So I’ve always considered Steven a friend. Did he say different?”

And it was with that level of unsureness that they looked at one another on stage at the pre-fight press conference. Their friendship was about to be put to the ultimate test in a fight that will not only end the dreams of one, but could result in his retirement.

“Erm, yeah. Every fight is a must-win at this stage of your career because if you lose it’s not the end, boxing is different now than it was maybe 10 years ago because people are losing and coming back, but it’s just a setback that you don’t want to have to try and rebuild at this age,” said McCarthy.

Ward admits the emotions have changed now fight week is here. Someone he might usually embrace and shake hands with is someone he now needs to stare vacantly through, with cold eyes instead of the familiar warmth.

“It has changed, yeah, we both must win,” Ward said. “When you’re sitting up there – you know it’s must win – but you’re sitting up there and across the table from each other, you can feel things are changing now, which is good.” 

Ward is a very willing protagonist, to the point that it’s taken McCarthy a little off guard. Ward this week said McCarthy has long been in his sights. 

“Then Steven’s been saying he’s wanted this for years,” exclaimed McCarthy.

“Did he say that to you?”

Neither really knows where they stand with the other ahead of their bout on Saturday.

“He said this is a fight he’d always wanted and he thought it would have happened sooner than later, but we were on different paths,” McCarthy explained.

“I never thought it would happen because, when Steven turned pro, he was light-heavyweight. And then it was never presented to me, and being friends and sparring partners, I just never thought it would ever present itself or come up. 

“It was kind of last minute. It was the day before the first press conference [to announce main event Lewis Crocker-Paddy Donovan] and they phoned me and said we were fighting, ‘Steven’s up for it, are you up for it?’ We’ll do it.” 

For years they’ve swapped blows in the gyms in Belfast – and around the world – but they’ve never had a full-on firefight. Saturday is all or nothing. For both.

“He’s never hurt me,” said McCarthy. “Me and Steven are two big guys in Belfast and it’s hard to get sparring for big guys in Belfast and both of us have been big from when we were young, so we were 14 when we first started sparring and we just continued. He was always a weight above me, then we ended up at the same weight, then we’d box each other at 17, 18, then he moved up and I moved up and we’d box each other again, so we know each other inside out. It’s been 20 years.”

It’s in many ways an illogically logical fight. It makes sense. Particularly on the bill that has caught the imagination in Belfast.

“Obviously, we’re from different parts of Belfast, it’s not like we’re doing stuff together all the time, but I would consider him a friend,” McCarthy continued. “We’ve known each other a long time and went round the world together [as amateurs] always helped each other for fights with sparring, I don’t have any bad feelings for him.”

“Tommy’s good, but I’ve fought harder. Kunkabayev was a better boxer than Tommy, but I got split open in that fight. Tommy’s probably more experienced than me as a pro, I’m not stupid,” Ward countered. “I feel like this sport has given him more opportunities than what it’s given me. I feel like the sport still owes me, and this is my opportunity to get back into that.”

Ward is 14-3 (4 KOs) but a 34-year-old veteran who has been a pro almost a decade.

McCarthy is 21-6 (10 KOs), also 34, but turned pro two years before Ward. 

There will be more than 8,000 fans turning the arena into a tinderbox on Saturday, and both Irishmen will have their support. 

Who will have the most?

“I think me,” smiled Ward. “Do you know what? People have been coming out in their droves to support me, and I haven’t been very active [two fights in three years] but I’ve got three or four hundred coming to support me. I didn’t have enough tickets. I sold out completely.”

McCarthy replied: “I have to be honest, I want to say me, but it will be 50-50, honestly.”

Is the fight 50-50?
“No, that’s one way traffic,” McCarthy added.

And so, for now, the friendship is on hold.