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World-renowned trainer Ronnie Shields said his newest pupil, Super lightweight prospect Danny O’Connor (15-1, 4 KOs) was learning to sit down on his punches more.
He didn’t lie. The new-and-improved O’Connor scored a devastating first-round knockout (1:20) over Jamal Del Cid of Mexico last night at the 10th annual Fight to Educate charity show at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire.
A huge overhand left did the job for O’Connor, who was coming back from his first professional loss last April.
“I’ve been working on putting more on my punches and being more aggressive and tonight it showed,” said the jubilant winner, post-fight.
Shields told Stephen Tobey of Gatehouse News Service that he liked what he saw.
“”He did great… He went out and did exactly what I wanted him to do. We’ve worked on making him more aggressive. He’s a lot stronger than he thinks. Everyone thinks he can’t punch, but he can punch. He’s so used to not standing his ground. He’ll get a lot more knockouts now.”
It’s been a trying five months since O’Connor suffered his defeat against Gabriel Bracero on national television. The 26-year-oldhas been living and training in Houston, leaving his family, wife Diane and six-month-old son, Liam, behind.
“It hasn’t been easy, but I think the results speak for themselves,” said O’Connor. “This is what I must do if I’m going to provide for my family and reach my dream of winning a world championship.”
O’Connor’s co-promoter, Leon Margules of Warriors Boxing (along with DiBella Entertainment), says he’s surprised how fast the effects of working with Shields could be seen on O’Connor.
“He was 100% better fighter tonight than he was before he got together with Ronnie. You’ve got to give the kid credit for packing up and moving to Texas and then for having the mental strength to adapt to this new style and really buy into what his coach is teaching him. Danny used to out-box his opponents and win decisions. Ronnie has shown him another way of winning: going in there and destroying a guy. That’s what he did tonight. It’s a new day. Danny O’Connor is on his way up.” |
