Hogan and Kelly clash in battle of high ranked fighters

World Boxing Organization number four ranked junior middleweight Dennis "Hurricane" Hogan 26-1-1 (7) continues his march towards world championship glory when he takes on world number five Jimmy Kilrain Kelly 23-1 (9) for the WBO Inter-Continental title on 7 April at the Brisbane Convention Centre on a DDP Sports promotion.

Hogan, who dominated world number seven Yuki Nonaka of Japan last October to win over 10 rounds, has only ever lost to Germany’s Jack Culcay on points in a bout for the WBA world championship.

“This is a phenomenal opportunity that will move me closer to my dream of becoming world champion,” says Hogan, 32. “I won every round against Nonaka last year and I’m going to do the same to Kelly. I’ll slow him down to the body and finish over the top of him.

“DDP have done a tremendous job to get Kelly out to Australia. I have fought all over the world and I know the effect it has on the body. Boxing is sport of a degrees and this is going to give me another 1-2% advantage which can be the difference in big fights.”

Hogan is trained by Glenn Rushton who masterminded WBO welterweight champion Jeff Horn’s upset victory over 11-time world champion Manny Pacquiao at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium in July last year.

“Training alongside Jeff is amazing,” says Hogan. “He has made it to the top and having seen what he did to get there, I truly believe that I have what it takes to do that too.”

The 25-year-old Kelly was born in Manchester and hails from Wythenshawe, Lancashire in Great Britain. The lone loss on his ledger came against Liam "Beefy" Smith for the WBO world championship in just his 17th professional bout.

"When we started DDP last year we said we were going to bring world class fights to Australia and that’s what we’ve done," says Paul Keegan of DDP Sports.