Jay Byrne has accused John Joe Nevin of “losing his balls,” revealing that a proposed Irish title clash with Senan Kelly collapsed at the eleventh hour.
The JB Promotions boss told Irish-boxing.com a deal had been agreed in principle for the Kildare native and the legend of Irish amateur boxing to contest the Irish 140lbs title on July 10 before the Olympic silver medallist pulled back from the bout.
Former BUI and BBBofC Celtic title holder, Byrne, revealed the Mullingar Shuffler had instigated talks, promoting the fighter turned fight maker to put together a card and book a venue, only for the fight to fall through.
Byrne says it was the former amateur standout who pulled the rug.
“We had one big one and we had agreed a fight with Senan Kelly and John Joe Nevin to fight for the Irish 140 title,” Byrne explained.
“They approached us. I agreed to put it on. I booked the venue. I done a deal with them financially. I done a deal with Senan financially. I started building the undercard.”
The Dubliner says he was blindsided when Nevin’s camp suddenly began expressing doubts and accused the stylist of running scared.
“Only last night after me doing all this work in the last two or three weeks, John Joe Nevin has lost his balls. Simple as that,” he added before hinting at the southpaw’s reasoning.
“He’s trying to say that he’s on the Queensberry show on August 1 and the whole lot. He agreed to a fight with Senan Kelly for the 140-pound Irish title.
“He’s lost his balls. Simple. He’s lost his balls.”
The JB Promotions head believes the fight represented a huge opportunity for Nevin to reignite his profile back home after years boxing away from the Irish spotlight.
“This is your chance to come back to Ireland, fight for the first time as a pro in Ireland, potentially win an Irish title and get your name blown up in lights in the Irish media,” Byrne said.
“The new generation don’t know who John Joe Nevin is.
“The July 10 date would put him in the perfect shop window for the Croke Park card if it happens in September.”
Despite his frustration, Byrne insists domestic success story Kelly remains fully focused and ready for a major domestic fight.
“There’s no issues with Senan,” Byrne said.
“Until you’re in the ring and the bell goes, the fight isn’t happening in this game.”
Kelly has seen several high-profile domestic bouts fail to materialise over the last year, including proposed clashes with Dave Ryan and Gary Cully.
“Senan wants big fights,” Byrne added.
“We made the Gary Cully fight. Senan called Gary Cully out. Gary Cully agreed to it. We thought the fight was happening and then all of a sudden now we hear that it’s not happening.”
Byrne says his team will simply move forward and secure another meaningful test for the entertaining Dubliner.
“We just move on. Nobody outside our stable dictates our stable and dictates what happens with our fighters.
“Sen will be looked after and that won’t be a problem.”