By Terence Dooley

Oldham prospect Mark Heffron won an ABA Junior gold medal as well as a silver at the European Youth Championships during his amateur career, he turned over in September of last year under manager Gary Hyde and trainer Joe Gallagher. The 19-year-old came into the pro ranks with the praise of Freddie Roach ringing in his ears. Roach has an eye for talent, he urged Hyde to sign the youngster after watching the 4-0 (2) fighter train.

Gallagher is building a big reputation here in the UK, his 43-fight undefeated run is a massive achievement. His welterweight charge seeks to add to that run against Spain's David Pulido, 6-9 (2), on the undercard of Guillermo Rigondeaux versus Willie Casey at City West Hotel, Dublin tomorrow night.

Joe feels that his fledgling charge is destined for big things, pointing out that Mark has already pitted himself against two of Britain's premier domestic champions. “He looked fantastic, he's starting to fill out now and become a man,” enthused Gallagher when contacting me to confirm that Heffron had successfully weighed in.

“Mark's had some great sparring for the fight with John Murray and he has been doing some work with Denton Vassell, we thank Denton and [trainer] Bob Shannon for that. John sparred the likes of Bobby Vanzie when he turned pro and that proved important so it is great that Mark has worked with champions. We hope to spar him against Craig Watson and Matthew Hatton when we get this one behind us. Mark is well prepared and ready to put on a performance.

“The only little thing is that it is a shame it is not on British TV because it would be nice to show Mark off, he's already got guys like John, Anthony Crolla, Matthew Macklin, Joe Murray and the Smiths [Paul and Stephen] praising him after seeing what he can do in the gym.

“Denton was great preparation for his future and Mark's done a lot of work with Crolla, he helped Anthony prepare for his British title win over John Watson. It proved invaluable, he's now helping John and using his own good left hook to get John ready for his next fight against Karim El Ouazghari.”

Success breeds success; Joe's Denton-based, CNP-sponsored gymnasium is chock full of talent at the moment, with the coach adamant that established fighters such as Murray, Matthew Macklin, Paul Smith, Stephen Smith and Joe Murray are helping to hone Heffron's ability.

He said, “Mark is getting a great education in the game. It is not just the sparring, the guys in the gym talk to him about their careers. It is great for him to have access to that type of experience. His last fight was on a world title undercard, he's now on the big Rigondeaux bill.

“Pulido throws a good left hook to the body and a nice straight right hand, he is a man, has won his last two and is coming over with nothing to lose. Mark has had a bit of time out so it just good to get him a run out. There is a lot of talk of the Olympians and other prospects but I think that Mark will be the one that surprises everyone.”

Heffron made his début in the Netherlands, fight number two saw him travel to Poland, his third contest took place in Hungary and he posted his last win on the undercard of David Haye's WBA heavyweight title demolition of Audley Harrison. Indeed, Mark scored single stanza stoppages in his last two, over Attila Molar and the then-undefeated Chris O'Brien respectively. Gallagher puts this surge down to the benefits of learning your trade on the road.

“It is great experience for him,” stressed Gallagher. “Mark is travelling around for fights. It is good for fighters. Fighting in front of your home fans all the time at the start of your career can lead to its own pressure so it is good to get away from it all and go to someone else's back garden for fights.”

Gallagher's Gym is awash with titles at the moment: John holds the EBU lightweight belt, Crolla recently won Murray's old British 135lb belt and Stephen Smith is the Commonwealth featherweight holder. Gallagher feels that Mark is destined for a quick progression to domestic honours.

“Mark is British and European title material, without a shadow of a doubt”, says Gallagher, “world titles are something you look at a few years down the line, he's in a packed division so we will see where he is after a few years but he's not too far off the British scene. I can see him becoming a British champion by the time he's twenty-two.

“His favourite fighter is Miguel Cotto and he boxes a bit like him and Saul Alvarez so at the gym we're calling him Miguel Alvarez Heffron. I've now got an Oldham Mexican as well as Manchester Mexicans. Macklin rates Mark as the best prospect in Britain or Ireland at the moment and you can't get any higher praise than that.”

RTE televise from 10pm tomorrow night. You can watch a free stream by going to http://www.rte.ie/sport/livestreaming/live-sport.html

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