Patrick Day is moving up the boxing ranks ahead of Barclays Center bout

When Joe Higgins is asked to describe his fighter, Patrick Day, what follows is a series of statements one would expect to hear from a trainer. He’s humble. He’s hard-working. He’s the all-American kid.


But then Higgins goes in a slightly different direction.


“What I always like to say,” he said, “is that Pat is the nicest kid in the world who is also able to knock the snot out of you.”


Nice or not, the 25-year-old Day is moving up the ranks in professional boxing. Day (14-2-1, 6 KOs) fights out of Freeport and won the WBC Continental Americas super welterweight title in his last fight. On Saturday night, at the Barclays Center, Day defends that title against Kyrone Davis (13-1, 5 KOs), who is from Delaware and enters this bout on a three-fight winning streak. The bout is on the undercard of the Deontay Wilder WBC heavyweight title defense against Luis Ortiz.



“I’m very excited to fight at the Barclays Center,” Day said. “In my opinion, it is the best arena in boxing and I cannot wait to give the fans of Brooklyn a taste of my style.”

Higgins has been training Day at the Freeport PAL since the fighter’s amateur career. Although he started boxing at the relatively late age of 14, Day quickly made up for the lost time. In 2012, Day won the New York Golden Gloves title, the National PAL title and the U.S. national championship. Day was an alternate to Errol Spence on the 2012 U.S. Olympic team.

Day turned pro the following year and has already endured several setbacks in the professional ranks. But Day has turned those losses into a positive.

“People focus too much on the undefeated record,” said Higgins. “Pat has had one bad loss and one controversial loss. But he’s learned from them. That motivated him more than anything else. He’s very focused right now. He’s really a seasoned fighter for 25 years of age.”

In his last bout, in July, Day won a unanimous decision over the previously unbeaten Erik Walker at the Nassau Coliseum. He was supposed to fight again in December, but that bout was canceled.

“After that fight didn’t come off, Pat never stopped training,” said Higgins. “He’s in incredible shape. A win in this fight puts him into the top 15 in the 154-pound division. There’s no one that I wouldn’t put him in the ring with.”

There is a lot of talent and the potential for big paydays in Day’s division. Jarret Hurd, Erislandy Lara, Sadam Ali and Jermell Charlo are marquee names that have fought major bouts in either the Barclays Center or Madison Square Garden.

“I am determined to win and am confident in my abilities,” said Day. “I plan to continue rising in the rankings and get closer to the top. This fight will further propel me to the elite world class level.”