\n The 23-year-old Warringtonian was crowned world heavyweight hybrid boxing champion last October when he sensationally knocked out Chard-based Brendon Moore in 36 seconds to take the vacant crown on Torquay\u2019s World Boxing League show.\n<\/p>\n
\n Now, for his highly anticipated homecoming in Warrington Wolves\u2019 den on Saturday, January 31, he is to face a man he has described as an \u2018animal\u2019, Welshman Dorian Darch \u2013 a fighter who got in the ring with global boxing stars Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois before switching to the bareknuckle arena.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cHe moved over to bareknuckle boxing and fought for the world title in that. And now he\u2019s coming for my world title in hybrid boxing,\u201d said O\u2019Rourke, a former pub and nightclub doorman in the town who is now on the security staff at Warrington Bus Station.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cHe\u2019s an animal. If he gets the chance to take my head off, he\u2019s definitely going to do it.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cI believe he\u2019s had 47 fights in total. He\u2019s not scared to fight the best in the world and he has done.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cHe\u2019s stuck it right on the toes of Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois \u2013 just went for them \u2013 and nobody\u2019s ever knocked him spark out properly. I\u2019m going to be the first person to do it and I\u2019ve promised him that.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cI asked him, live on social media, if he wanted anything for Christmas. I was in Waterstones and I said I might get you a nice book to read before I put you to sleep.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cHe told me to get him The Gruffalo so I did. I\u2019m going to hand it to him at the press conference.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Amazingly, it will only be former Hook & Jab boxer O\u2019Rourke\u2019s second fight on the hybrid scene \u2013 a code described as the same as normal boxing except with smaller, MMA style, gloves.\n<\/p>\n
\n His first, the world-title win on The English Riviera, was a case of O\u2019Rourke seizing his opportunity \u2013 because he was only supposed to be on the undercard giving hybrid a go!\n<\/p>\n
\n And despite his stunning win, he will be much better prepared all-round for his second professional contest against a 41-year-old who will be experiencing his first taste.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cI was contacted by my current promoter Lee Sibley, who had just started this new platform Risk It All Boxing,\u201d explained O\u2019Rourke.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cThey were looking for a heavyweight boxer to fight on the show. I had no idea what hybrid boxing was at the time. I looked into it and I thought, why not, if they\u2019re going to pay me a small sum to be on the undercard, not a big fight, I\u2019d give it a go.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cThe main event was my eventual opponent versus someone else at the time. And they had about nine pullouts. In the end they had nobody to fight the guy for the vacant world title and I just said, \u2018yeah, I\u2019ll do it\u2019 and I ended up smashing him in 36 seconds. I couldn\u2019t believe it.\n<\/p>\n
\n Conor O’Rourke with his new belt after his stunning win in Torquay (Image: Freddie Fryer)\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cIt was crazy because anything that could happen before that fight, did happen.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cIt was a five-and-a-half hour drive down to Torquay crammed into the back of a car like a tin of sardines. We got there late at night, and then I woke up and pretty much just rolled out of bed and into the ring.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cThe thing about that fight, nothing was ever going to stop me from winning.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cThe day before, my cornerman and main coach pulled out. So I had no cornerman, and I just put my mate in the corner.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cBut there were a few things that happened.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cTwo days before, we (O\u2019Rourke and his girlfriend Yazz) were kicked out of emergency housing into a Travelodge. When I went to the fight, I left everything that I owned in my mate\u2019s flat.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cI got my bloods taken for the fight and the needle stabbed my bicep. So I had internal bleeding in my arm and we had pictures of my arm \u2018black\u2019. It was horrible.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cI could only just extend my left arm two days before the fight \u2013 and that\u2019s the one I knocked him out with.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cAnd on my right hand, I\u2019d been biting my finger nails and I had an infection in my thumb nail. It infected and swelled up about twice the size. It wasn\u2019t anything contagious, but it was crazy and I had antibiotics.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cEvery time I fight there\u2019s a bit of \u2018What am I doing here?\u2019 but deep down I was thinking that if all this that has happened hasn\u2019t stopped me, then he wasn\u2019t going to.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cHe couldn\u2019t have ever stopped me. I don\u2019t think there\u2019s a man alive who could have stopped me on that night because I just felt invincible.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Conor O’Rourke standing over Brendon Moore after flooring him with a left hook (Image: Freddie Fryer)\n<\/p>\n
\n Now in the process of moving into a new place, he feels there is progress outside of the ring as well as inside.\n<\/p>\n
\n While having had his first experience of a hybrid fight, he is primed for his second one.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cIt\u2019s completely different. There\u2019s so many little things that change a hybrid fight,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cWhen I got in there, I just thought it would feel different when I connected with a punch with the gloves being smaller.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cBut really the distance was off \u2013 because there\u2019s an extra two inches on a normal boxing glove, I just felt I was miles away from him and I had to get in close to him.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cI just jumped in right at the deep end I suppose, going straight for a world title on my first ever fight in hybrid boxing.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cAnd now I\u2019m jumping in even further with Dorian Darch who\u2019s just an absolute animal but I think I\u2019m ready for it.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n O\u2019Rourke said capacity in the 40\/Twenty Lounge overlooking the stadium\u2019s East Stand is around 500 with a mix of standing and seating tickets still available at the time of writing, though they have been selling well and highlighting a growing army of \u2018Concrete\u2019 fans.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cFighting at The Halliwell Jones means more to me than any world title,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cI\u2019ve grown up as a Warrington lad and seen the Wire games at The Halliwell Jones.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cBut there\u2019s not a whole rugby team in my corner, it\u2019s just me in the ring, there\u2019s nowhere to hide. You\u2019re just toe-to-toe with someone, and doing that at The Halliwell Jones Stadium in front of my town is massive.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cTo get the support that I\u2019ve had from everyone in my hometown, including Luke Littler promoting my fight with a poster on his social media, is amazing.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cSo many people are throwing their businesses at me, wanting to sponsor me. I can\u2019t even list all my sponsors off the top of my head, there\u2019s so many of them, and they\u2019re all local.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cPeople just want to help me, for nothing, because there\u2019s not much that comes out of Warrington and I feel like I\u2019ve made a breakthrough and people are really jumping on it because they know how rare it is. Thank you to everyone.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cI think 90 per cent of the people there will be my fans. I don\u2019t even know some of the people coming.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cSix months ago, I was nobody. Now, walking down the street people are asking me to sign things and if they can get pictures with their kids.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cIt\u2019s blew me away really, because I\u2019ve reached somewhere with people.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
WATCH CONOR ‘CONCRETE’ O’ROURKE DECK BRENDON MOORE IN 36 SECONDS:<\/p>\n
\n For the undercard of fights and the world-title contest at The Halliwell Jones Stadium, standing tickets are priced \u00a340, while VIP seating is \u00a365. Request direct to Conor O\u2019Rourke or R2R Events Ltd on Facebook.\n<\/p>\n