Hometown title bid for Hefforn

RONNIE Heffron brushed off the disappointment of missing out on his first shot at a professional title by easing to victory over Lithuanian Arvydas Trizno.

Oldham welterweight Heffron (20) took out his frustration on his 22-year-old opponent with a fourth-round technical knock-out win at Bowlers, near the Trafford Centre.

Promoters were unable to find a suitable replacement for Chris Johnson, who pulled out with a bad back, meaning 'Razor Ronnie' was robbed of his chance to bid for the Central Area title.

However, there was better news after this comfortable triumph.

Failsworth-based trainer Anthony Farnell revealing talks are under way for his young charge to face Johnson at Oldham Sports Centre before the end of the year.

"There are big plans in place for Ronnie and I know the promoters are keen for him to fight Johnson this year at the sports centre, which would be fantastic as it is his hometown when all is said and done," said Farnell.

"If he wins that, the vision is to step it up again and even get Ronnie fighting at somewhere like Boundary Park.

"Frank Warren wants Ronnie to establish himself in Oldham, not least because he has such a passionate and vocal following. He can do what Ricky Hatton did for Tameside and Manchester.

"He would love to fight in Oldham and the sports centre is walking distance from his house, which is perfect."

Farnell once again paid tribute to the fans who backed Heffron at Bowlers and believes they witnessed his best performance to date.

He added: "That was the most comprehensive all-round display Ronnie has given me.

"I am glad the people who follow him all over the place to show their support got to see him in full flow.

"Some of his moves were wicked. He wants to show people his level of skill and I think he did that against Trizno.

"The noise his supporters generated was unbelievable - it was like a night out in Oldham to be honest!"

Heffron's jab proved his opponent's undoing and the Oldham lad was well ahead in every round before the stoppage in the fourth.

Farnell said: "I think the penny has finally dropped with Ronnie that he does not need to go out there and absolutely destroy everyone in his path.

"He kept the jab going and it did the job, because Trizno had no answer to it.

"We are talking about a tough lad who recently took Junior Witter the distance before losing on points, so Ronnie can be very happy with himself."