'Lightning' strikes in the Big Apple on September 15th.
Christina McMahon may have had a number of more lucrative offers to choose from (including a home show in Co. Monaghan next month), but Ireland's only professional female boxer - and current WBC Interim bantamweight champion - will instead return in New York this month for a shot at the full WBC belt when she takes on female boxing legend in Jamaican-turned-Brooklynite Alicia Ashley.
41-year-old McMahon, a native of Carrickmacross, is currently 7-0 with 3 stoppage victories, and toppled the highly-fancied Catherine Phiri - then too unbeaten at 10-0, and just 22 years old - in the latter's hometown of Lusaka, Zambia back in May.
Ashley presents a different challenge; a 4-time world champion, the Jamaican is a 33-fight veteran who only relinquished her 3-year grasp on the WBC belt in a controversial defeat to pound-for-pound queen Jackie Nava in Mexico last year.
McMahon will be entering the lioness' den, so to speak, but will hope that Ashley's 48 years may catch up with her in the face of ferocious activity and teak-tough conditioning (As well as being a *24*-time kickboxing titleist, McMahon is a personal trainer), as the Monaghan star seeks to continue her meteoric - and massively under-appreciated rise - to the pinnacle of the womens' game.
Hopefully Irish fight fans in New York and surrounding areas will rock up to Studio Square to support their own on September 15th.
This is simply an epic picture of Christina McMahon after winning the WBC interim world title tonight in Zambia pic.twitter.com/f1Jhzf3pj9
— Kevin Byrne (@KevooByrne) May 2, 2015
