Padraig McCrory couldn’t let the fairy tale end on such a sour note.
The Belfast favourite takes to the dance floor one last time on the Waterfront hosted Last Dance bill this Friday.
Preferably for ‘The Hammer’ and his family, the gloves would have been placed permanently on the hook already, and he would have called it a day after his March 2025 fight with Craig Richards.
However, the defeat and a below -par-performance just didn’t feel like the right way to say goodbye.
So the Hammer Boxing boss will trade leather one last time.
“At our last event at the Waterfront, I kind of decided then that I was in a position where I was able to have one last fight.
“I had a real desire to fight again because my last performance wasn’t great,” the 38-year-old explained when speaking to Irish-boxing.com.
“I wanted to finish pro boxing on my terms and on more of a feel-good feeling.”
For a fighter who spent years exceeding expectations, it was important not to allow one disappointing night to become the lasting image of his career.
The St James’ native journey started on the small hall scene and progressed to headline victories, major arena nights, an upset win in Germany and a world-level opportunity against Edgar Berlanga in America.
It’s been an inspirational fairy tale innings and now he gets one final opportunity to re-write the last chapter himself.
“I wanted to finish pro boxing on my terms and that is what the Last Dance is about.’