The Big Bang Theory: Willie Casey interview

Limerick boxer Willie ‘Big Bang’ Casey talks to JOE about winning Prizefighter, upsetting Wayne McCullough and his European title ambitions.

By Conor Heneghan

“I don’t spare any boxer”, says Willie ‘Big Bang’ Casey without a hint of hesitation. “If I can see that I can knock him out in the first ten seconds, I will knock him out in the first ten seconds. It’s the same for them as it is for me; if they see the chance to take me out, they’re going to take me out as well.”

Such a statement sums up the all-action, take no prisoner style of fighting which has seen the 28-year-old Limerick native make waves in professional boxing circles in this country. On the last Saturday in June, the super bantamweight defeated Frenchman Faycal Messaoudene in the Neptune Sports Arena in Cork, his ninth victory since turning professional and his sixth by knockout.

A native of Southill in Limerick city, Casey has been boxing since he was eleven years old and is continuing the pugilist tradition that has been in his family for generations. Having boxed on and off for a number of years, he began to take the sport seriously after winning the Irish intermediate featherweight championships in 2004.

After that, it didn’t matter who you put into the ring with me, my confidence was so high; I was buzzing. If Mike Tyson came in to the ring I’d have thought I could beat him.

In 2008, Casey turned professional and took the step up in class in his stride, winning his first five fights, four of them by knockout. What really boosted Casey’s profile in boxing circles, though, was his appearance in May of this year in Prizefighter, a boxing tournament devised by promoter Barry Hearn that features eight competitors fighting three separate bouts of three rounds apiece on one heady night of action.

Willie with the Prizefighter title

Casey was a late replacement in the super bantamweight competition for Wayne McCullough, who sustained a hand injury in the build up to the tournament. He worried that the 3×3 minute format wouldn’t suit him, but such fears proved unfounded as the Limerick man defeated Mark Moran, Paul McElhinney and Josh Hale on his way to winning the title and claiming £32,000 in prize money.

“When I got the call for it, the one thing I tried not to think about was winning it,” he says.

“It was the last thing I was thinking about because, to be honest with you, when I heard about Prizefighter and the 3×3 minute rounds, I wasn’t 100% confident in myself. Give me a fight of eight or ten rounds with any man and I’d feel very confident, but in three rounds, you could get a slick mover or a tricky fella and it mightn’t go so well at times.

“Once I started warming up, though, I started to feel very confident. It was always about winning that first fight, I never thought any further than that. I knew myself I had to put everything into that one fight and I did. I gave it my all and it paid off.

“After that, it didn’t matter who you put into the ring with me, my confidence was so high. I was buzzing. If Mike Tyson came in to the ring I’d have thought I could beat him. The confidence I gained from the first fight was the key to me winning the whole thing. It was a great achievement and it still hasn’t kicked in to be honest. People are still congratulating me over it.”

I’ve no disrespect for Wayne McCullough, regardless of what he said. If he feels he’s up for it, well and good for him and all I can say is, ‘let’s get it on’

McCullough, the man who Casey replaced, was one of the many to congratulate Big Bang on his achievements, albeit grudgingly. It seems there is no love lost between the pair, with McCullough taking issue with comments made by Casey prior to the Prizefighter competition, which seemed to suggest that the 39-year-old McCullough was past his best.

“All along I supported Willie and hoped he would win the tournament even at my own expense, as he is a fellow Irishman, even though I didn’t personally know Willie,” said McCullough at the time.

“I had called out Bernard Dunne a few times but all was in good manner and Bernard is a friend of mine and always will be. We had a few back and forths. But he never disrespected me in the way Willie did and that’s why I want to fight him. It was Willie that called me out, and it is Willie who has everything to gain from fighting me, I have nothing to gain from fighting Willie.”

Casey remains a huge fan of McCullough and has followed his career since the day he won a silver medal at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, but he is unruffled by the Belfast man’s comments and would have no qualms about facing up to one of his idols in the ring.

“That’s just Wayne McCullough wanting to get his name in the papers again. I know in the last couple of years, not just in Prizefighter, he has pulled out of fights at the last minute. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with that; if you’re injured and you can’t fight, you can’t fight.

“If he really wants to fight me, he knows who my coaches are. They had been talking before about a fight, even before prize fighter. If it happens, it happens. It would be a good old fight. Our styles would be great and to be honest with you, he could be tough to beat because he still looks after himself; he’s still training the whole time.

“I’m not in this game to hang around, but we’d have to look at it in a sense of what could a fight with Wayne do for my career; If I got a win over him, would it boost my profile more or what would it do? There are a whole lot of things to be looking at; I’ve no disrespect for that man regardless of what he said. If he feels he’s up for it, well and good for him and all I can say is, ‘let’s get it on’.”

Any potential McCullough fight will have to be put on the back burner for now, however, as Casey is in preparation for his next bout in the Citywest hotel on the 7^th August, which will be a mere six weeks after his defeat of Messaoudene.

If someone came up to me tomorrow and said, ‘Willie, there’s a European title fight in three weeks or six weeks time’, I’d take it

His graph has risen so steadily since turning professional in fact, that only nine fights into his professional career, Casey’s thoughts are already turning to a shot at a European title, a prospect which holds no fear for the man known more commonly now, even to his friends, as ‘Big Bang’.

“I’d be ready tomorrow (for a shot at the European title). If someone came up to me tomorrow and said, ‘Willie, there’s a European title fight in three weeks or six weeks time’, I’d take it. As I said, I’m not one for waiting around in this game, I’m not going to kill myself out for four or five years before I take the next step up. (Pro boxing ranking website) Boxrec have me in at number seven in Europe (super bantamweight category). After only nine fights, that’s a great achievement.

Willie has ambitions of a European title

“For my next fight, we’re looking at somebody that’s actually ranked in the top ten so that’s a big boost. We’re going where we want to go and I’m not setting any limits for myself at the moment. The bigger the fight, the harder I’ll train and the better I’ll perform. Once I get in there I’ll give it my all and that’s all that matters at the end of the day.”

At 28, Casey feels that he has “maybe three or four years” left in the game if things keep going the way they are and after that he wants to return to coaching in the club he started out at, Our Lady of St Saviour in Southill, something he hasn’t been able to do as often as he’d like due to his busy schedule of late.

I love a good battle. When you leave it all in the ring, you’re happy no matter what the outcome is

Thanks in no small part to Casey’s exploits, the club has been packed out every night of the week in recent times, even in the height of summer, when usually, according to Casey, there would normally only be a few hanging around.

He gets a kick out of the fact that the youngsters at the club hang on his every word while his influence has already spread to members of his own family. Younger brother Miley recently won an Irish under 16 title and has also competed internationally, something his older brother didn’t manage until he was in his twenties.

However the rest of his career turns out, however, thanks to Prizefighter and other big professional bouts, Willie will have plenty of memories of his time in boxing, but he will recall the days when he was pushed to the limit in the ring with particular fondness.

“If you were to ask me in ten years time which I enjoyed more, the first round knockouts or the long, ten round battles, the ten round battles are the ones I’ll remember more. I love a good battle. When you leave it all in the ring, you’re happy no matter what the outcome is.”