John Joe goes pro - but his last fight is at home

Despite a tempting offer to stay on as an amateur boxer, John Joe Nevin has opted to turn professional, setting himself a target of a world boxing title.But, he has said this week, he is having his last amateur fight right here in his home town, hopefully in Cusack Park, at the end of November."I got a great offer to stay on as an amateur, sixty grand a year for four years, and then the chance of going to the Olympics. It would end up at €240,000 over the four years, and if I got a medal, I would get €10,000."It was a great offer, but I set myself a target of winning an Olympic medal, and I got that, and now I want a world title - a professional world title," he told the Westmeath Examiner yesterday (Tuesday), adding that in the amateur field, he had "nothing more to do".Excited about the challenge ahead, he is thrilled that he has worked out a deal that will enable him to keep living in Mullingar, although he will probably wind up spending two days a week training in Belfast; and prior to big fights, he will spend five or six weeks at a time training in the UK.John Joe has signed up with Super Fight Promotions, run by Amir Khan, a former Olympian who turned professional. What swung it for John Joe was his belief that as a boxer, and not merely a promoter, Khan understands the game, and John Joe could work well with him.Already, his first professional fight has been fixed for January 19 in Manchester, but the big event in the interim is John Joe's final amateur fight, which he hopes will be a big Mullingar night out. Both the BBC and RTÉ have expressed an interest in screening the fight.