Winner Moore on a Mission

By Declan O’Kelly

UNBEATEN Wicklow middleweight James Moore is now 10-0 after a successful search and destroy mission on Edson Aguirre at the Plattduetsche Park restaurant in Franklin Square, Long Island Friday night.

Moore, who had not been in action since September, dispelled any rumors of ring rustiness with a clinical performance, knocking Aguirre down in the second before stopping the fight in the third.

“I was in good shape, by the end of the second round I’d hardly broken a sweat. I felt very fresh,” Moore told the Irish Voice.

Amazingly, in his 10 fights as a pro, he has only got to the sixth round once.

Headlining his first event, Moore put in the kind of performance that both thrilled his huge contingent of Irish supporters present, and showed the boxing community that he can bring in the fans and deliver the goods.

Manager Brian Burke certainly seems to think that 2007 will be the year of James Moore.

“James is a diamond, he does all the right things and after that performance last Friday night, all the major players want to get their hooks into him,” Burke said.

Moore was well prepared for the night and left nothing to chance.

“I’ve been training hard since the start of the year, twice a day, done a lot of sparring and spent the last few weeks in training camp in Florida,” he said.

The same camp, in fact, as his friend John Duddy, the Derry middleweight who will headline the Erin Go Brawl event at the Theatre at Madison Square Garden on Friday, March 16.

The two friends used to be at Irish Ropes Promotions together,but after an amicable split, Moore is now handled by Navillus Promotions, run by the Sullivan brothers, and the new union is prospering.

“Navillus have been more than good to me. They have treated me really well over the past few months and I couldn’t be happier,” Moore said.

Though he has been fighting at middleweight, it will be at 154 pounds as a junior middleweight that Moore hopes to make his mark.

“I’d be very strong at that weight (junior middleweight). I don’t know if I would be big enough or strong enough at world class level to be fighting at middleweight,” Moore feels.

Offers are coming into Moore’s camp, and the boxing reality show The Contender have had an eye on Moore for quite some time. However, the Wicklowman is adamant the he will only commit to a deal that is right for him and Team Navillus.

About his plans for the year, Moore is determined and has set himself goals.

“I’m trying to get as many fights as I can. I am hoping to fight someone in the top 15-20 in the world in my next two or three fights and by the end of the year have one of the intercontinental titles and move up the ladder,” he says.

The next rung on that ladder will be his next fight, probably at the end of March, when Moores hope to take the next step that will lead him to the top.