Dublin lightweight Stephen Ormond (3-0, 1 KO) will make his New York debut this Friday night when he takes on Washington Hago (4-4, 2 KOs) at the Capital One Bank Theater in Westbury, Long Island on a Lou DiBella-promoted Broadway Boxing card.

The 26-year-old, known as “The Demon” is trained by Pete Brodsky and managed by Joey Winters, and this fight will be his second on American soil. On March 19, Ormond made his U.S. debut in Worcester in a fight where his opponent, Jonathan Ocassio, retired after the first round.

Ormond has an extensive amateur career (fighting out of St. Matthew’s in Dublin), and is a two-time underage national champion and a three-time senior national champion (winning two titles at featherweight and one at lightweight).

After winning his third national title, Ormond went to England to team up with Frank Warren, but things never took off for him in the U.K. and he took a break from the sport for a year.

However, the boxing bug soon had him back in the squared circle, and he got back to training with Phil Sutcliffe in Crumlin, Co. Dublin. Ormond, not the tallest of lightweights, had a couple of fights in Ireland, defeating Jevgenijs Kirilovs on January 30 at Citywest and taking a points decision over Juris Ivanovs on his pro debut in Killarney on October 26 last year.

At 2-0, Ormond was a free agent, and when the opportunity to come to America presented itself (Olympic silver medalist Ken Egan’s coach Gerry Fleming recommended Joey Winters), the Clondalkin native decided to cross the Atlantic.

Ormond had also talked to and trained with John Duddy while on vacation here a few years back, so he was well versed about life as an Irish boxer in the States. 

“I can box and I can fight and I have heavy hands,” Ormond said on Tuesday. “I want to bring some excitement for all the Irish fans over here,” he added, saying that he loves to fight on the inside, has settled in well, and is looking forward to staying very busy in the forthcoming months.

Ormond made the full-time move to the U.S. two weeks ago after having a training camp here for the March fight. He works out of the Winters Gym in Westbury.

“The kid is a cross between Barry McGuigan and Roberto Duran,” manager Joey Winters told the Irish Voice Tuesday. 

This will be Ormond’s second fight on a Lou DiBella promotion and Winters hopes that he can develop the Westbury-based Irish fighter on DBE events.

“I have trained five world champions and I have seen all kinds of styles, and I have to say that all things being considered Steve does everything well, and the thing I like most about him is his perseverance -- his ability to learn something and implement it,” said Pete Brodsky of his Irish charge.

“He is going to have a lot of knockouts, I can tell you that. He is a great body puncher, which is unusual for a European fighter and he just has an exciting style.”

Standing in the opposite corner on Friday night is Washington Hago (4-4). Though his record is mixed, Hago enjoyed a stellar amateur career and is a former Golden Gloves champion. The contest is scheduled for six rounds, and Brodsky knows his man has to be careful.

“This guy (Hago) won the gloves; he was a real good amateur. He is also not a particularly tall lightweight and is a tough guy. His record is 4-4 because he was never cultivated, but as an amateur he was outstanding,” said Brodsky.

Ormond is comfortable at 135 pounds and has been sparring with (6-0) welterweight Chris Algieri in preparation for this fight. For ticket information, visit www.dbe1.com

In other news, according to boxrec.com, lightweight Danny “Little Mac” McDermott is scheduled to fight on June 25 at Schuetzen Park, North Bergen. No opponent has been confirmed.