Music-loving Tommy McCarthy vows to hit a high note and net world title shot

Belfast man McCarthy has been based in Dublin along with close friend Tyrone McKenna, who is preparing for his own big night on August 6 at Falls Park. Both men are coached by Pete Taylor but have different ways to relax after a hard day’s graft in the Dublin gym.

“Tyrone’s big into Call of Duty on his Xbox and all I can hear from the room is him going mad when he gets killed and shouting ‘go, go, go’ so I’ve been bringing down my guitar to switch off from him and also just chill, which you need to do. A while ago he bought himself a bass guitar and then he bought me a six-string and after the boxing is over we want to go singing around the clubs in Belfast — we’re calling ourselves Whiskey and White,” said McCarthy.

“I’ve been playing since I was a kid. My teacher in P5 was Alex Quinn, who sang in the local group Barnbrack. He started teaching me guitar and I went from there, playing some traditional Irish music and then I started to play the kind of stuff I like – R&B and reggae. I was getting pretty good at it but then boxing took over everything so it’s been good playing again. Everyone in my family is very musical. My aunts and uncles all sing and one of my cousins is the singer Labrinth, who has done very well.

“Everything has gone very well in camp and I’m looking forward to being part of Fight Camp, boxing in Eddie Hearn’s back garden. When I was watching it last year I was always thinking to myself, ‘It would be great to be part of that’ and now I am and there’s going to be fans which is even better.

“Win this fight and I’ll be fighting for a world title – everything that I have always wanted since I started boxing around 12 years of age. I’m three with the World Boxing Association and Billam-Smith is four and I’m ranked highly in two of the other governing bodies as well so it just shows you how big a fight this is.”

McCarthy has turned his career around over the past two years working with coach Taylor and made a successful defence of his title against Romanian Alexandru Jur in May, stopping him in the sixth round. Immediately, promoter Hearn set up the duel with Billam-Smith, who is coached by Shane McGuigan.

Billam-Smith’s solitary defeat came at the hands of Richard Riakporhe, who has also beaten McCarthy. However, since those losses, both men have been on unbeaten records and it promises to be a fascinating encounter.

“Billam-Smith has a big punch but every other department I’ve got the edge and a lot of people don’t seem to realise just how hard I punch. I’ve had some injuries going into fights and as a fighter you always have niggles but that’s not an issue this time,” added McCarthy.

“I know his coach has said that Billam-Smith is coming to put me to sleep… I just know that I have the skills and a better ring IQ so I’m confident I’ll get the job done.”