Tough night ahead for Facey by Jonny Callender May 23rd 2008

On the undercard of Hatton's 'Homecoming' against Juan Lazcano this Saturday night English light-middleweight champ Andrew ‘Smiley' Facey defends against the experienced Thomas McDonagh. Facey, who fights out of the Ingles' Wincobank gym in Sheffield, will be boxing for the first time this year as his last bout was a stoppage loss to British champ Jamie Moore back in October '07.  In an interview for thestar.co.uk, John Ingle expressed how he does not feel that Facey's comparatively less experience and inactivity will be a problem against Manchester born McDonagh who fights infront of his home crowd: “McDonagh has rarely boxed anybody who is any good. He has been matched to win in all his fights. When he did face someone decent, he lost. “Of the two, Andrew is the more likely to take the match to his opponent. He can punch harder too, you only have to look at how he went on against Gilbert Eastman (third round stoppage) and Gary Woolcombe (fifth round win.)” Ingle then looked beyond the clash with McDonagh to Facey's next possible contest; “After that we'd like to see him named as mandatory challenger for Ryan Rhodes' British belt”. Team Facey do however need to acknowledge the danger that McDonagh presents before they underestimate him and certainly before they look to future bouts. Contrary to what Ingle believes about McDonagh's past opponents, the Manchester fighter has in fact fought some highly credible names on the British circuit such as current Commonwealth champ Bradley Pryce (Win UD) and former WBU champ Wayne Alexander (Lost SD). Andrew Facey does have a very awkward style that makes many good fighters look ordinary as he showed in his two bouts with Jamie Moore and his points victory over Matthew Macklin. However, his tendency to go back in straight lines and his very upright stance often leave him standing square on to his opponents and vulnerable to big shots. With the local Manchester crowd spurring McDonagh on, I envisage a tough night ahead for Facey, tougher it seems than he or his management expect.  We shall see.

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