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Thomas Carty: Ireland's Next Heavyweight Hope on the Rise
Thomas Carty takes on Jonathan Exequiel Vergara on Friday, September 20, at Dublin's 3Arena
When Thomas Carty gets called the next great Irish heavyweight, you must first answer the question, who was the last great heavyweight to emerge from the Emerald Isle?
Of course, there’s Tyson Fury, a former Irish titleholder, but he was born in England. Dundalk’s Tom Sharkey made plenty of noise in the division back when James J. Jeffries was champion, but that was in the early 1900s. Between then, there was the occasional contender, but as we enter the tail end of 2024, the unbeaten Carty is looking to be the great heavyweight hope for his nation.
“I see myself a couple of fights away from the heavyweight top table,” said the unbeaten Carty, who faces Argentina’s Jonathan Exequiel Vergara this Friday in his native Dublin. “I'm 8-0, about to go 9-0, add another knockout to the record, and there's no blueprint for me, being that the last Irish heavyweight to do anything notable would've been Kevin McBride, who knocked out (Mike) Tyson. There hasn't really been anyone since Tyson Fury - he's the last one to hold the Irish title. But, for me, I'm not too sure how many steps away from the top I am. I know how good I am. I've sparred Fury for the (Oleksandar) Usyk fight, sparred (Anthony) Joshua for the Usyk fight. I sparred everybody, really, to be completely honest. So it's hard to say, but all I know is I'm not too far away from those top guys already.”
Forget Irish – after mimicking the undisputed heavyweight champion for Fury and Joshua, Carty may be part-Ukrainian now.
He laughs.
“Left-handed, fast feet, nice, stylish technical boxer, but there's absolutely no Ukrainian in me; I’m fully Irish.”
And fully invested in getting to the top of boxing’s glamour division. That’s usually not something feasible in other weight classes with less than 10 fights, but given the experience Carty has garnered not only in his fights, but in the gym, he may move faster than most, especially since he’s got a manager right in the thick of things in Dillian Whyte, a former interim WBC heavyweight champion.
“After my last fight, we both fought on the same card on St. Patrick's Day here in Ireland, which I'm quite proud of,” said Carty. “He said after my last performance that - and this is coming from a man who's been there and seen what it takes – Thomas Carty could be a world champion. He said it takes time, and it takes patience, but Thomas Carty has the potential to be a world champion.”
Not that Whyte is biased at all. We both laugh.
“No, not at all,” said Carty. “But he's also a guy that doesn't really talk s**t. If you know Dillian Whyte, he doesn't big people up. He doesn't give compliments.”
In other words, hearing Whyte, who has been in with Fury, Joshua and other top heavyweights of this era, say what he did is high praise. The 28-year-old Carty doesn’t let it get to his head, though. He’s got work to do and he’s willing to put that time in. As for everything else that surrounds a rising star in the division, Carty seems unbothered by it all, a cool he attributes to his father.
“I probably got it from my dad,” he said. “Nothing really raises his blood pressure. He’s calm, cool, and collected, and he's selective about what he lets annoy him and what he doesn't let annoy him, and he educated me fairly well on what's a problem and what’s not a problem, and nine times out of 10, what you think is a problem actually isn't.”
What is a problem is the 6-foot-4 Carty, who has ended seven of his eight wins by knockout, four in three rounds or less. He expects to deliver more of the same this Friday in the 3Arena that has been a second home, considering that he’s fought there in two of his last three bouts.
“I know where the crowd is when I knock him out and where to look after I knock him down,” laughs Carty. “But, of course, it adds something. I've only had two fights at home out of the eight in my pro career. So it's very prestigious and special for me to fight in the 3Arena once again.”
It may also be a good chance for fight fans to catch the next great Irish heavyweight before things start getting even bigger.
“I know from being on the scene myself that there have been some good Irish heavyweights that haven't really transferred over or gotten the chance,” Carty said. “Professional boxing has been dead for years. There hasn't been really much going on, and the revival has all started with Katie Taylor turning professional, and she's given us young fighters a platform and something to reach for.”
Carty is certainly reaching for the stars in boxing. But if that doesn’t work out, maybe he’ll follow his buddy Johnny Walker into the UFC.
“I can talk numbers with (UFC CEO) Dana and we'll see,” he laughs. “But I was in the UFC PI in Vegas in January, and I was doing some kickboxing, MMA rounds and stuff. So who knows?”
That’s the beauty of being undefeated, under-30 and having the world about to open up to you. That has to be a glorious feeling, but Thomas Carty has his sights solely set on what’s in front of him.
“I never get ahead of myself,” he said. “I always focus on the task at hand. So we take it one step at a time, and the next step is Friday night at the 3Arena.”
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