McElhinney eyes prizes as a fighter

Rising star Paul McElhinney is aiming to use his Prizefighter near miss as inspiration to blast himself into championship contention. The Newlands man stepped in as a last minute substitute at May’s Prizefighter super-bantamweight tournament and came within a whisker of lifting the title and £32,000 top prize.

He went down to a narrow point defeat in the final to Irishman Willie Casey, who has since gone on to lift the European super-bantamweight title by knocking out his countryman Paul Hyland.

McElhinney is back in action at Scotstoun Sports Campus on November 27 against fellow Glaswegian Ryan McNicol.

Promoter Chris Gilmour said: “Paul came close to becoming only the second Scot, after Ryan Brawley at lightweight, to win a Prizefighter title. It was an amazing effort for someone who came in as a last minute substitute to run someone of Casey’s calibre so close in the final.

“Paul won a lot of plaudits for his performance and the fact that Casey has subsequently won the European title should act as an inspiration for him and prove that he can compete at that level.

“But he has a difficult fight against Ryan coming up and both of them will be determined to win in front of their home fans, so he will need to be at his very best if he is to progress towards championship level.”

In the top of the bill, Paisley’s Kris Carslaw challenges Midlander Terry Carruthers for the British Masters light-middleweight title.

Cuban KO sensation Luis Garcia faces Ukrainian Serhiy Demchenko in an intriguing international light-heavyweight contest.

And Scots Richard Barclay, Ciaran Duffy, Eddie Doyle, John Downie and David Cowan also feature on the nine fight bill, along with Londoner Chris Evangelou.

Tickets are on sale and are priced at £40 (reserved seating) and £30 (unreserved seating) and are available on 0141 810 5700 and all the boxers on the bill.