Danny Duffy seals emotional win and targets title fight in Donegal

Danny Duffy wants to work his way into title tilts by the time pro boxing returns to Donegal.

On Saturday night in Letterkenny, Duffy overcame Ricky Starkey on points after a four-round clash.

Duffy moves to 3-0 after a 40-35 win over Starkey following an entertaining if sometimes unpleasant outing.

“I’m buzzing,” Duffy said. “It’s brilliant. Hopefully I can go again next year here.

“I’m up for whatever now; I have no cuts, no injuries. I'd love to get back on it as soon as possible. 

“Hopefully I can do the main event here next year and then I’d go for a belt. That would be the goal. 

“This time next year, I want to be fighting for a title here. I know Jason (Quigley) is planning to bring it back every year and I'll be looking at the main event next year.”

The Raphoe Boxing Club super-bantamweight maintained his unbeaten record when claiming the decision from referee Paul McCullagh.

Starkey, complete with a red hand band, had a ring run rather than a ring walk. The Liverpudlian was all energy after the first bell.

Duffy, though, landed a good right hook in the opening verse and, showing some nifty footwork, arrowed a neat combination, but Starkey hit back on the counter. 

The experienced Starkey, who came in here with a 2-33-2 record, implored Duffy to attack him in the second round of an often messy contest.

Duffy said: 

“He kept hitting me in the back of the head. I think I got hit in the back of the head about 100 times. I was like ‘referee, come on here’, but there was no doubt, I wasn’t sweating about the result. I knew I had it. “

Duffy nailed a sharp left hand in the third round that brought the crowd to its feet and ‘Battallion Stallion’ Starkey was briefly dangling between the middle ropes after a tangle.

Duffy put Starkey down in the fourth and the Strabane native took the win.

He said:  “I got the knockdown and that would have put that as the 10-8 right there and then I knew straight away. After that I knew I had it.” 

Duffy was the Irish amateur bantamweight champ in 2023, winning senior and Elite titles in the space of a few weeks.

He made his pro debut last December and the 24-year-old was declared the points winner against Jake Pollard in the Devenish in June.

He said: “I enjoyed every minute there. It was some atmosphere and some buzz. It was some difference to a couple of years ago.”

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It had been a tough few weeks for those in the Raphoe Boxing Club, whose head coach Gary McCullagh lost a son, Christian, last month. Just a couple of hours after Saturday’s fight night came to a close, Raphoe BC founder and driving force Peter O’Donnell passed away following an illness.

Duffy said: “This was one nothing could go wrong for me. I couldn't lose this fight no matter what. 

“It's a great feeling. It's just everything that's happened through the last while, I just knew I needed to get on and get the win.

“I knew there was a bit of pressure on me to get the win here.”