Double Commonwealth Games bronze medallist and 2016 Olympian Steven Donnelly has turned professional with MTK Global.

The 29-year-old from Ballymena was third in the 2014 and 2018 Games at welterweight and middleweight respectively and will begin his career in the paid ranks at 154lbs.

Donnelly said: “I’ve been to three Commonwealth Games and then qualified for the Olympics through the semi-pro World Series of Boxing.

“I got through to the last eight in Rio and that was great for me despite a poor Olympics for Ireland. I’ve won Ulster and Irish titles and all the rest as an amateur.

“I’ve always said that the professional game would suit me. If you look at the end of my amateur career, I was starting to fight a lot more. My style was becoming pro.

“I can box and I can fight and I’ll be showing that on my debut. I’m knuckling down to train every day. I’m very dedicated.

“I want to be fast-tracked and get going straight away. I believe I’ve the talent to go very far in this game.”

IN OTHER NEWS: TYRONE MCCULLAGH has vowed to rub Joe Ham’s nose in it, after branding his rival a ‘pig'.

The pair clash over ten rounds for the vacant Celtic super-bantamweight championship at Belfast’s SSE Arena on Saturday night and it can be seen live on BT Sport.

McCullagh and his Glasgow rival have been locked in a verbal battle, but the time has come to shoot from the hip instead of the lip.

The Belfast boxer said: “‘The pig’ nickname is just a bit of banter, but I don’t like him because I am going to box him for ten rounds although we will shake hands when my hand is raised.

“You can’t like someone you are fighting. He is going down.

“He was saying a few things, but he has gone very quiet and blocked me on social media as well.

“I don’t know what he is trying with mind games and I hear he isn’t coming over for the press conference. As long as he is there on Friday for the weigh-in and fight night I don’t mind.

McCullagh nicknamed ‘White Chocolate’ has won all ten professional contests. Ham also boasts a 100 per-cent record, winning all 14 of his paid fights.

McCullagh, 27, added: “It is a great fight and fair play to him for taking it. We are both putting unbeaten records on the line and it makes for a very interesting fight.”

As well as the Celtic belt, their fight is an eliminator for the British title which Jazza Dickens and Martin Ward contest next month but McCullagh is in no hurry for that belt.

He explained: “There are few obstacles to get over first before I fight for the British title. Jazza Dickens is my team-mate and he is fighting for the British title so we may not fight each other.

“We will cross that bridge when it comes to it, but the British title isn’t high on my priorities. I’m Irish at the end of the day.”

The bill is topped by Michael Conlan’s Homecoming bout against Brazil’s former world title challenger Adeilson Dos Santos.

There is an all Dublin rematch when Jono Carroll defends his IBF intercontinental super-featherweight crown against Declan Geraghty. When they met in November 2014, Geraghty was ahead before he was disqualified in the fourth round.