Joe Ward set for return to ring in Boston in March
Joe Ward is planning to return to the ring in March, five and a half months on from his nightmare professional debut in New York's Madison Square Garden.
The 26-year-old from Moate announced last week that his second pro fight would be against an as-yet-unnamed opponent in Boston's House of Blues on Saturday, March 14.
Ward suffered a freak injury when he dislocated his knee in his debut against Marco Delgado in early October. Delgado was declared the winner on a second round technical knock-out.
As Ward's injury was not caused by his opponent, his management sought to have the result declared a 'no contest', but the New York State Athletic Commission would not budge and the loss stands as the only entry on his pro record to date.
In an interview with the Irish Sun last week, the local man said he feared the injury could have spelled the end of his journey in boxing.
"Walking out of Madison Square Garden, I thought, 'This could be the end of my career, I might never box again'.
"I didn't know how serious it was or how much damage I'd done. 'Is it fixable?' Especially as it was my second time (to suffer that injury)," he said.
However he underwent surgery from a specialist in New York shortly after the bout and the outlook now appears to be more hopeful.
"Everyone is happy where I'm at. They said it's nearly where we want it to be," he explained.
"They said it takes time to rebuild the muscle around the knee but the knee itself is 100 per cent secure. It will never happen again, that's what the surgeon said. It's all positivity.
"I'm not worried about it because I know I put the work in. For me it's 100 per cent ready but we're working away to put the muscle back in, nothing a training camp can't do."
Ward is currently in Waterford, training under coach Jimmy Payne, and he gave a motivational talk to the Waterford Under-16 camogie team last week.
His former Irish amateur boxing teammate Ray Moylette is also scheduled to box on the St Patrick's weekend bill in Boston.
The card is being promoted by Murphy's Boxing, which was founded by musician Ken Casey of the band Dropkick Murphys.