By Sean O' Driscoll

Irish fighter Kevin McBride is to take a shot at the world heavyweight title after trouncing Mike Tyson last weekend after six rounds in Washington, D.C.

The fight between McBride and WBA champ John Ruiz is set for Boston in late September or early October, McBride has confirmed.

In an interview with the Irish Voice on Tuesday, McBride said that he would be the first Irish-born heavyweight champion of the world, and dreamed of winning the three heavyweight titles.

He said he was doing well physically and wasn’t bothered by the 15 stitches-long cut above his left eye or the swollen arm he endured before exhausting Tyson, who suffered severe bruising to the side of his face.

Thousands of Boston boxing fans have been toasting McBride’s heroic success since his victory last Saturday night.

Thousands traveled to the fight, while many more watched it in bars across the city. In the Green Hills Irish bakery in Dorchester, customs lined up on Tuesday to shake hands with the home hero.

Family and friends from McBride’s home town of Clones, Co. Monaghan are also staying with him to offer congratulations to him and his U.S.-born girlfriend, Danielle, a Boston nurse.

McBride said that he loved the applause but was now looking to the Ruiz fight.

Ruiz’s manager, Norm Stone, quietly promised McBride a shot at the title if he beat Tyson.

The Ruiz team, which has close personal contacts with McBride’s camp coordinator, Paschal Collins, has said privately that the fight is being negotiated and will most likely go ahead in early October.

Collins told the Irish Voice that he will be staying in Boston to help McBride prepare for the fight. He said Kevin was serious enough to go for the heavyweight title and could beat Ruiz.

“I told Kevin that if we were going to fight Tyson, he would have to be honest with himself and do what he was told. He did that and I know that he can do it,” he said.

Ruiz hit the headlines in May when the WBA reinstated him as heavyweight champion after the then champion, James Toney, was stripped of his title for alleged drug abuse.

McBride said he would probably not put on extra weight for the Ruiz fight.

“I put on weight for Tyson. I have a strength coach and I’m going to sit down with him and see. I lost 38 pounds of fat for the Tyson fight and I put on about eight pounds of muscle. Muscle wears more than fat, so I’m at about the right age for the weight too,” he told the Irish Voice.

McBride, 32, said that his age would not be a factor in going for the world title fight.

“I’m like a wine that gets sweeter the older it is,” he joked.

McBride said he dreamed of winning all the heavyweight championships and unifying the belts.

“I know that, with boxing, it’s like a Christmas cake. You have to have all the ingredients coming together perfectly and it’s all starting to come together with me,” he said.

“In the last couple of years, I’ve been looking forward to my hunt for the unification of the titles. I have a heart that fears nothing and anyone can get it if they put their dreams out as possibilities,” he said.

McBride said wanted to have another interview with the Irish Voice when he was world champion.

“I want to have that belt around my waste and say, ‘Hey man, I’m the first man who was born and raised in Ireland who rose to win the heavyweight championship.’”

He also revealed the words spoken to him by Muhammad Ali in the ring after he beat Tyson. “Ali came up to me and he said, ‘I’m the greatest, but you’re the latest.’ It was just a dream come true,” McBride said.

“I thought it was a great saying. He told me I had a big heart and that I hit hard. If I never put on a pair of gloves or a pair of boots, that will really be he icing on the cake.”

McBride said he managed to say a few words back to Ali.

“I said to him, ‘I’m after meeting two champs. One that I’m just after beating in the ring and the other than I’ll never beat but I’ll always admire.”

McBride said he was relieved that Tyson did not act up before the fight and call him names in front of his family.

“Tyson was more respectful. I was kinda getting angry. I am a human being and I do have a lovely baby daughter. I didn’t want to be too scared of him but I didn’t want him to be like: (imitating Tyson’s high pitched voice), ‘Geez man, you like Michael Jackson!’”

Originally from Clones, Co. Monaghan, McBride said he wanted to fight on the local GAA pitch some day as a tribute to his town.

“I’d love to fight in Dublin and in the GAA pitch in Clones. You know something? After I win the world title fight, if the Clones GAA crowd let me go back to fight there, I’ll fight for nothing. Just for a laugh, a last hurrah, you know.”

He said he had no intention of retiring just yet, but was “helping” other boxers to retire.

“Tyson retired and John Ruiz will retire sometime. I’m the man who will go in and retire people from the WBA title,” McBride said.

“I know Ruiz will be as tough as any of them but I know his family and they have a weak chin. Lennox Lewis proved that with Ruiz’s brother and I know its possible. At the end of the day, it’s wide open for the WBA title,” he said.

He watched the Russell Crowe boxing movie, Cinderella Man, two days before his fight with Tyson and immediately identified with it.

“I’m like the new Cinderella Man in boxing. That movie came out at just the right time. Russell Crowe should be called up and told that he should have to give half of that money to me.”

McBride said that he was glad he has used Boston hypnotherapist Patrick Brady, to help win the fight.

“I didn’t want to leave any stone unturned. Anything that would intimidate Mike Tyson and help with the fight was good,” he said.

He said that Tyson’s blows had not left any long-term damage.

“I’m a bit bruised up but in a few days I’ll be ready to rock and roll again. I have 15 stitches over my left eye and so it’s just healing up and my arm isn’t too bad now,” he added.

He is going to meet with management and trainers over the next few days to decide how best to handle a challenge to Ruiz.

“Before the Mike Tyson fight, Stoney (Ruiz’s manager, Norm Stone) gave me his word that he’d give me a crack at John Ruiz and that is coming through. All I want people to say is that I fought hard and gave it a go,” he said.

For his part Tyson, who failed to come out for the seventh round at the MCI Center on Saturday night, thus handing McBride a sixth round TKO, says he will retire from boxing.

“This is it. I’m finished. It’s just not in my heart,” said Tyson, 38. “I’m just not interested in fighting anymore.”

Tyson started strongly but resorted to dirty tactics as the fight wore on. The gash McBride received above his left eye was inflicted by a Tyson headbutt. At the end of the sixth round, McBride was ahead on the three judges’ scorecards.

McBride’s record improved to 33-4-1 with 28 knockouts.

“He’s a tough warrior,” McBride said of his opponent. “He’s perhaps one of the greatest warriors of all time. I just got him at the right time.”