Barry McGuigan tells Lee McGregor to take British title

Promoter Barry McGuigan wants Lee McGregor to fight for the British title following his fourth-round stoppage of Goodluck Mrema to claim the vacant IBF Youth Bantamweight title on Saturday night.

Lee McGregor celebrates his win against Goodluck Mrema. Pic: SNS

McGregor floored his Tanzanian opponent to claim a fourth victory in four professional bouts and McGuigan laid out the next step for the 21-year-old, who the Irishman believes is going to the top.

“I’d like him to fight for the British title before the end of the year,” said McGuigan. “He beats any bantamweight in the country at the moment. That’s leaving aside people like Ryan Burnett. Burnett’s a world-class fighter, but that’s where this kid is going.

“He’s such a great kid. He’s had such a tragic couple of years {his mother, cousin and two grandparents have all died during that period] but he’s such a great human being to get over that and keep his life on track. So many can go off the rails, getting into booze, drugs and fall apart. He’s sensible though. He’s made the decision to train with me and he’ll not regret it. He’ll fight for a British title before the end of the year and beat any of the boys out there.”

Earlier in the night there was a straight forward first round win for Kirkliston’s Tommy Philbin against Czech Dominik Landgraf.