Monaghan Moves Past Stevenson, Wants Joe Smith Grudge Fight

By Thomas Gerbasi

Seanie Monaghan doesn’t need an excuse – or a fight – to go to the gym and spar.

“I’m dedicated to my craft and I’m always working on things,” the unbeaten light heavyweight contender said. “In boxing, you always try to improve, and I actually enjoy sparring and working on what needs to be worked on. I don’t need a fight to go in there and train hard.”

So as we talked last Thursday afternoon, it was after another sparring session. In a perfect world, he would have been preparing for a fight against WBC light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson, but instead, there is no fight, just work.

“This one here really seemed legit,” Monaghan said of the fight against Stevenson, which went by the wayside when the Canadian opted for a rematch with Andrzej Fonfara. “I thought it was a done deal. We started getting a little suspicious because there was no press conference. Then it was April, then May, maybe June. It was taking a long, long time.”

On April 8, Monaghan’s suspicions were confirmed when he was texted a screenshot of an Instagram post where Stevenson confirmed the June 3 bout with Fonfara.

“It took all the wind out of my sails,” the Long Islander said. “I wasn’t totally blindsided because I was suspicious of it, but I was still disgusted.”

It’s the latest slight against an honest fighter who earned his shot at a 175-pound title. His record of 28-0 (17 KOs) should have been enough, but add in that Monaghan is an action fighter with a strong local following, and you would assume that someone would have figured a bout with the New Yorker would pull in a few dollars. But boxing usually doesn’t make sense, and so Monaghan will continue to push for a big fight. And at 35 years old, time is running out, thus changing the way he looks at his day job.

“I don’t really care that much about proving myself anymore,” he said. “I don’t know if you could ever totally prove yourself to boxing fans. They’re very tough. So if I was trying to make myself feel good about getting a good response from boxing fans, that’s a road that goes nowhere. So really, as bad as it sounds, it is about my bank account right now. That’s my main concern because I’ve got kids and they come before me. I want to be a world champion, I want to be recognized for my ability, and I want money. And none of those things have really come yet because I haven’t been given the right opportunity.”

That isn’t from lack of trying. While Monaghan did his job in the ring, Top Rank and then DiBella Entertainment did their part to get him a title shot. As Monaghan explains, Top Rank had a great plan for him that involved fighting Beibut Shumenov for the title and if he won it, then defending it against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

But Shumenov instead took a fight with Bernard Hopkins and lost the belt. Hopkins’ promoter, Golden Boy Promotions, was in the midst of the now thawed Cold War with Top Rank, so they weren’t going to give Monaghan a shot at Hopkins. A fight with then-champion Juergen Braehmer didn’t materialize either, and now with the Stevenson fight gone for the moment, he has to look to the future.

So what does that future hold? Monaghan says he would take a fight with WBA titleholder Nathan Cleverly in a second, but the most realistic matchup at the moment is one diehard fight fans, especially those in New York, would love to see against fellow Long Islander Joe Smith.

“We’ve been on the phone already about that,” Monaghan said. “It’s the biggest fight for me besides a world title fight. Me and Joe Smith would pack Nassau Coliseum.”

Forget the local angle, even though that’s an enticing one. When it comes to styles, this is a can’t miss action fight, and with these former amateur rivals both in the upper reaches of the light heavyweight division, it’s a fight that should secure a title shot for the winner. Monaghan believes he’s earned that right, but he’s willing to make his case by beating Smith, who was the breakout star of 2016 thanks to knockouts of Fonfara and Hopkins.

“Now Joe Smith is this giant name in the light heavyweight division,” Monaghan said. “To me, he’s still Joe Smith. He’s nothing special. But you get two big wins like that and all of a sudden you’re the man in boxing.”

Sometimes it only takes one, and Monaghan just wants his shot to win that fight. The funny thing is, he thinks his last fight might be the ticket to getting it, as his December win over Fernando Castaneda was clear-cut, but not one getting put on his personal highlight reel.

“I hadn’t fought in 10 months, but I thought, ‘I’m gonna smack this guy around, it will be one or two rounds,’” he said of the Castaneda fight, which came on the heels of a week sparring in Canada with unbeaten Artur Beterbiev. “Then when the fight happened, I just had no energy, no urgency. I just felt so bored, almost. The fight went 10 rounds and I won, but it wasn’t impressive at all.”

It was a disappointing night for Monaghan, but an uncle from Ireland lifted his spirits with a post-fight phone call.

“He said, ‘Yeah, you definitely didn’t look your best, but that might be the best thing that ever happened. Watch, your phone’s gonna ring now.’”

It did, with the best offer being the one for the Stevenson fight. And while that fell through, Monaghan has hope. Sometimes that’s the only thing that keeps a fighter going.