Joe Ward wants to make a belated jump into title territory.
The Moate light-heavyweight fights on Irish soil for the first time as a pro on Saturday night when headlining the Rumble In The Hills card at the Aura Leisure Complex in Letterkenny.
Ward (9-1, 5KOs) faces Ghana's Prince Oko Nartey (11-1, 10KOs) and is aiming to get back to the heights he reached as an amateur. In the Irish vest, ward won three European golds as well as two World silvers and a World bronze.
The 2016 Olympian suffered a freak injury after just four minutes of his pro debut against Marco Delgado, dislocating a knee in the second round at Madison Square Garden. Ward managed to put right the only blemish on his pro copybook when he defeated Delgado in a rematch in Puerto Rico.
"This is a stepping stone for me to get to the best light heavy in the world," Ward said ahead of his meeting with Nartey on the Elite Sheer show.
"There are levels in this game. I believe that I am levels ahead.
"When I turned professional, I got an opportunity to fight in Madison Square Garden and thought: 'This is it!’ I thought then that everything was going to plan. Everything was going great. I was ready to go.
"It was a freak injury. At the time, it was devastating. It was probably the best time to happen, at the start of my career where I was able to get it fixed and move on."
‘Prince of God’ Nartey arrives to Donegal from Ghana, where 11 of his wins have been inside the scheduled distance. Narty’s only loss came in a 2019 bout against James Kraft in Germany - his only previous professional bout in Europe - when the IBO World Youth title was on the line.
Now 30, Ward has never lost on an Irish canvas - and isn’t planning on changing that in his homecoming fight.
He said: "I want to fight big domestic fights. I know what level I’m at. I need to build momentum now and put myself in a situation where these fights will happen.
"It was always my dream to come back and fight in Ireland. It’s home. This is where it all happened for me.
"To be able to headline my homecoming is very special. I’m looking forward to building momentum from here on in. I got an unfortunate injury but I’m back now and I’m ready for the big tests ahead."
Ward has name-checked the likes of European light heavyweight champ Dan Azeez, IBO world light heavyweight title holder Lyndon Arthur and Joshua Buatsi as those in his crosshairs.
The Westmeath southpaw said: "I believe that I’m better than each and every one of them. I want to stamp my authority now. The Irish people know what to expect from me - a ruthless performance.
"I believe that I am ready now and hopefully after this fight that big fights will happen for me - after this, I want to fight for belts."
