logo
'Collins and Frampton said I can be next Irish star... I'm ready to prove it'

'Collins and Frampton said I can be next Irish star... I'm ready to prove it'

Steve Collins and Carl Frampton are both big admirers of Steven Cairns and the Corkman says he is ready to become a superstar of Irish boxing.
'The Irish Takeover' moved to 11-0 as a professional with the seventh stoppage victory of his career earlier this month when beating tough Mexican Francisco Javier Lucero at the National Stadium in Dublin, knocking him out in the third round.
Frampton has been a long-time admirer of Cairns, stating after watching one of his fights last year that he could be Ireland's next big star.
The 22-year-old also got praise from former middleweight and super-middleweight world champion Collins after his last fight and is now ready to prove both the 'Celtic Warrior' and Frampton correct.
"That's the plan," said Cairns. "Getting words like that off him (Frampton) is what motivates me to keep pushing myself in the gym and after the fight I got to meet Steve Collins and he gave me some kind words.
"He was saying I was definitely the best boxer on the night and he loved watching my style.
"I said to him 'we've got the same initials and I hope I can do what you did one day' and he actually said to me; 'Trust me lad, you're a lot better than I was'.
"It was class. Even when we were leaving the arena, he was driving out and he stopped to put down his window and shouted 'see you later Steven'.
"It was a good buzz because I looked up to the likes of Steve Collins and Carl Frampton and for them to be impressed by my boxing, it's what I've worked hard for since I was a kid and I love it."
The Queensberry-signed and Dave Coldwell-trained fighter is hoping to emulate the heroics of Collins and Frampton as he looks towards winning his first pro title in the coming months.
"I think it shows I'm doing the right things," added Cairns. "Obviously from a young age, moving away from home and deciding this is what I want to do because I believed in myself and I knew I could get there.
"I wouldn't do it unless I believed I was going to be world champion and my plan is to be the best Irish boxer ever and that is by beating the likes of Carl Frampton and Steve Collins, who were both two-weight world champions, and to beat them I have to become a three-weight world champion or the undisputed world champion so that's my goal.
"I want to be known as, when I retire, the best boxer of Irish history, and I'm working towards that every single day, tirelessly every day."

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Ireland fans laugh at 'hilarious' England loss to Senegal
Ireland fans laugh at 'hilarious' England loss to Senegal

Irish Daily Mirror

timean hour ago

  • Irish Daily Mirror

Ireland fans laugh at 'hilarious' England loss to Senegal

A number of Irish fans took to social media as they took joy in England's 'hilarious' loss to Senegal on Tuesday night. Just days after Ireland were unlucky not to win against the African side, England suffered a 3-1 drubbing at the City Ground. It looked like it would be a formality for the Three Lions after Harry Kane opened the scoring just seven minutes in, but Senegal would flip the script when Ismaila Sarr scored the equaliser five minutes before the break. Habib Diarra put Senegal in front shortly after the hour mark, and a 93rd-minute insurance goal rubbed salt in England's wounds. And Irish fans were happy to mock their neighbours after their shock loss. "That is hilarious, even Ireland didn't lose to Senegal,' said one social media user. "ireland went head to head with Senegal, unlucky lads," said another. "England lose to Senegal, Republic of Ireland draw with Senegal... Ireland > England," joked another. Unfortunately for Ireland fans, the gloating could not be taken to extremes after they drew 0-0 against Luxembourg in a drab affair. On the same day that he turned 58, boss Heimir Hallgrimsson was not given another birthday present from his squad after they put together a tepid display. The best chance of the game undoubtedly fell to Jack Taylor who saw his effort denied by the crossbar while Troy Parrott's second-half finish was ruled out for offside. For Ireland, all eyes are fixed towards September with a double-header against Hungary and Armenia while England will be looking to bring some better form into that window too following their loss to Senegal and narrow win over Andorra.

Ireland sign off season with low-key draw in Luxembourg
Ireland sign off season with low-key draw in Luxembourg

RTÉ News​

timean hour ago

  • RTÉ News​

Ireland sign off season with low-key draw in Luxembourg

The Republic of Ireland ended their season with a largely underwhelming 0-0 draw away to Luxembourg. Following the 1-1 draw with Senegal last Friday, manager Heimir Hallgrimsson made five personnel changes, including a debut for goalkeeper Max O'Leary. The 'end-of-term' vibes were evident at Stade de Luxembourg as Ireland struggled to find any real rhythm against a side ranked 91st in the world, hitting the woodwork in both halves without looking like cutting the hosts apart. The opening period saw Luxembourg create more chances, yet it was the Boys in Green that went closest to breaking the deadlock. In a scrappy affair, it was just short of the half-hour mark before a meaningful goalscoring opportunity was created. Evan Ferguson coughed up possession in midfield and Luxembourg's most industrious player, Danel Sinani, struck a crisp effort that required debutant O'Leary to go at full-stretch to keep out. The hosts looked the more likely to score but three minutes before the interval it was the woodwork that denied Hallgrimmson's side the lead. Dara O'Shea was there to meet the free-kick and guided it toward goal where his defensive partner Nathan Collins got his head to it, the captain's effort bouncing back off the bar. 42 mins: 🇱🇺 LUX 0-0 🇮🇪 IRL Nathan Collins hits the woodwork from a rebounded free kick just before half-time. 📺 @rte2 & @rteplayer from 7:30pm 📱 Follow a live blog 👇 — RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) June 10, 2025 Kasey McAteer – from close range – and substitute Jack Taylor from outside the area both saw efforts fizz wide, while Parrott couldn't sort his feet out in the area shortly after the resumption to threaten the Luxembourg goal. Parrott had the ball in the back of the net in the 65th minute, but the offside flag went straight up. 65mins: 🇱🇺 LUX 0-0 🇮🇪 IRL One off the post in the first-half by Collins and another chance off side in the second, this time from Parrott. A great finish but flag goes straight up for an obvious early run. 📺 @rte2 & @rteplayer Follow a live blog 👇 — RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) June 10, 2025 Adam Idah and Matt Doherty were sprung from the Irish bench to provide some offensive spark, but the closest either side came to finding the back of the net was Taylor rattling the crossbar in the 87th minute with a rasping drive from outside the area. The only thing of note in the concluding stages was the international debut handed to John Joe Patrick Finn, the French-based, Spanish-born midfielder from French Ligue 2 club Reims who replaced Jason Knight in the engine room in the final minute. The Republic's next outing is a crunch home game with Hungary on 6 September where Hungary will be the visitors for the opening game in World Cup qualification.

Ireland held to draw against Luxembourg in snoozefest friendly
Ireland held to draw against Luxembourg in snoozefest friendly

Irish Daily Mirror

timean hour ago

  • Irish Daily Mirror

Ireland held to draw against Luxembourg in snoozefest friendly

Luxembourg 0-0 Ireland This tedious game will be quickly forgotten about, and deservedly so, but it also served a useful purpose was a sharp reminder that for all the lofty chat of World Cup qualification, Ireland have a long, long way to go before they can compete in that boy Heimir Hallgrimsson said in the build up that it wouldn't be a shock if Ireland failed to get a result here, as Luxembourg are not quite the minnows of they were still on a bad run, with just one win in their last 11 games - although that was against Sweden - and they sit 91st in the FIFA world were no better than them here and while nobody will read too much into a drab, end-of-season friendly, it's a sobering realisation of our own levels Taylor nearly won it in the dying stages but the fierce drive from the Ipswich Town man crashed off Tiago Pereira's crossbar and back into Taylor, who was a 57th minute sub, was Ireland's most dynamic player on a night when the entire attack failed to make any impact in a toothless Hallgrimsson - on his 58th birthday - will point to the four-game unbeaten run that his team has stitched together going into the start of the World Cup a night when Max O'Leary and John Joe Patrick Finn made their debuts, the draw kept momentum on track, but should also keep World Cup expectations in UEFA bigwigs ever propose binning end-of-season friendlies, they could use the first-half as evidence in their case. Grim doesn't begin to describe made five changes to the team that drew 1-1 with Senegal on Friday and Bristol City's O'Leary made his debut in goal, six years after his first Jake O'Brien came in at right-back while Killian Phillips started in midfield having made his debut off the bench at Aviva Stadium on both Evan Ferguson and Troy Parrott started in attack, with Adam Idah and Taylor dropping to the and Parrott were bystanders throughout the half, while Phillips ended up moving to the left and swapping roles with Will Smallbone as Ireland were so porous in the spent the week talking about his team can improve once they get the basics right and build from there, but those fundamentals were failing them or nothing was going their way and simple passes were going astray all too often in a really sloppy display that had no punch to it fans had little to cheer about and resorted to jeers instead, joining in with a large portion of the home fans every time Gerson Rodrigues got on the who scored the winner in Dublin when Luxembourg stunned Stephen Kenny's team in 2021, was given a suspended 18-month sentence for domestic fans unfurled a banner protesting against his ongoing selection in the side, while groups of women held up red cards when he got on the he rarely threatened the Irish goal and dragged an early shot wide, just before Roobie Brady was forced to retire after 20 minutes with an Manning replaced him but both he and Kasey McAteer - the goal scorer against Senegal - struggled to make any attacking impact until the really were toothless in that regard and they relied on two defenders, Nathan Collins and Dara O'Shea, to carve out their only chance before the floated a free-kick into the box which O'Shea headed towards Collins who in turn headed the ball at goal, only to see it crash off the post.O'Leary saved well at full stretch to thwart Danel Sinani when the St Pauli forward was afforded way too much to race towards the Irish box before finished the half with just 39% possession. It was shaping up to be one of those there were signs of life early in the McAteer flashed a left-footed drive just wide, and then he headed across goal for Parrott at the back post, but he couldn't get his shot away and handled in the from a long Jake O'Brien throw in, substitute Festy Ebosele squared for Taylor who saw his first-time shot fizz narrowly now, Ireland were playing with more purpose and Parrott did finally put the ball in the net in the 66th minute, after collecting Taylor's through ball, but he was had their moments too, and Jason Knight's intervention was vital in keeping out skipper Laurent Jans' Ireland were closest to winning a forgettable game when Taylor crashed a drive from the edge of the box off the crossbar in the final throes. Everybody will be happy to move on from this.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store