Derry middleweight Connor Coyle to face unbeaten Mexican for vacant NABF title fight

The 30 year-old unbeaten middleweight (12-0) is pencilled in to contest the vacant NABF title against Mexican, Juan Abraham Villegas (14-0) in Washington in what will be his 13th professional fight.

There’s no official date for that match-up just yet as promoters are determined to stage the event in front of fans should Covid-19 restrictions be relaxed later this year in the USA.

Indeed, Coyle’s promoter, Roy Jones Jr. Boxing Promotions are already planning on putting fights cards together for next month, initially staging events in Mexico.

It’s expected to be towards the end of October or early November before that’s considered a possibility in the US but regardless of when it’s staged, it’s a fight Coyle believes will catapult him up the world middleweight ladder.

“We’re going for the NABF title,” confirmed the Galliagh native. “We thought it would be in August but I don’t think it will happen until we’re allowed to have fights in front of fans in America.

“We will wait to see when that happens. They don’t want that title fought for behind closed doors.

“They want the stadium to be packed out and want the fans to get behind the fight so they’re holding me off until they can fill that stadium.”

The NABF middleweight strap was recently held by Ballybofey middleweight, Jason Quigley, ranked 14 with the WBC, before he lost it in defeat to Tureano Johnson - the man who ended the career of Prizefighter and IBF Inter-Continental champion, Eamonn O’Kane in 2015.

Winning the NABF title worked wonders for Quigley who was elevated into the top four with the WBC while he held the belt and Coyle hopes it can change the trajectory of his own career in a similar fashion.

“It’s the same title Jason Quigley held which put him into the top four with the WBC,” stated Coyle. “So that’s my plan, to break into the top 10 this year with the WBC. If I win this title I’ll be right up there.”

The 2014 Commonwealth Games bronze medalist had been fine tuning his skills sparring with Quigley in Dublin before the coronavirs shutdown the sport last March and he’s taken confidence from the session.

“I was sparring Quigley in March because we were both expecting to fight in April so that was my last spar in Dublin,” said Coyle.

“About a week later everything got shut down with the coronavirus. It was a great spar and Andy Lee loved it as well. He said you would travel far for that fight.”

Coyle will meet tough unbeaten Mexican, Villegas for the title when he next ducks between the ropes and he can’t wait for the challenge.

“We have an opponent set already, a Mexican who is 14-0 with 11 knockouts so it will be tough. It’s locked in and all, we just don’t have a date.The promoter said it would be late Autumn, whether that’s October or even November I don’t know but it will be this year. It will happen before the year is out.”

Coyle is currently back home in Derry and has recently become a father for the second time and he says his one-week-old son, Calaeb has given him more ‘coal for the fire’ as he looks to make his mark at the business end of the division.

”Everything went well with the birth and he’s a wee cracker,” beamed Coyle. “It’ll be harder going away to camp now but it just adds more coal to the fire for me. It’s more motivation to do well.”

With lockdown restrictions beginning to ease, Coyle is now hoping to take his training regime up a notch but he’ll just keep himself ticking over until he gets confirmation on an official date for his title showdown.

“There’s no exact plan right now but I’m just chipping away at the minute, ticking over on the bags myself and keeping myself fit and sharp.It’s not the same as having your coach standing over you and pushing you on.

“The last fight (against Miguel Dumas), although it only went one round, I had the most sparring I ever had leading into it. So I’ve had a few hundred rounds of sparring for the last two fights. I was bringing myself up to world level with all the sparring and then lockdown happened.

“It won’t take me long to get back to where I was at and everyone is in the same boat anyway it wasn’t just me who lost out in a couple of months,

“So I’ll pick that up quickly enough.”