Irish Boxing

If Lindsay were to do a deal with Maloney I think there is a better than decent chance that the fight would be in Belfast - although a press release just in says it is in Leigh. Asides from that McCloskey's first defence should be in town in early spring as well. So I'd imagine we will have two bills in a very short space of time. Was talking to Rogan, he is going for op (the same one Rory Best had) in a fortnight, then six weeks rest then back into training. I think you could see a number of the Irish heavyweights (Kenna, Barrett, Furey and Rogan) get into the mix with each other, which if Rogan is involved would mean another fight night in Belfast in late spring/early summer.

 

Murray vs ***an i think

 

Going to spar Jason booth and stuart mcfadden on wednesday but I'll be back for the awards on sat

 

Fair Play.....Who better to spar than the EBU Ranked #1

 

Lindsay Risks All Against Arthur

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January 14th, 2010


MARTIN LINDSAY will make the first defence of his British featherweight title against in-form Jamie Arthur.
Their 12 rounder takes place at Leigh Indoor Sports Centre on March 19 and will be televised live by the home of boxing Sky Sports.
Belfast’s Lindsay (15-0) won the title last April with a sixth round stoppage of Scot Martin Lindsay in one the best domestic fights of 2009.
And now the 27-yerar-old is determined to make if a Celtic double when he tackles Welshman Jamie Arthur (16-2) in a clash that promises to be an all out war.
Lindsay is already in training camp and added: “Everything is going well except that is about -12 in the gym.
“You are training harder just to stay warm. The weather does have a bit of an effect on your roadwork but there are a few treadmills in the gym so you can still go in and tick away on them.”
Cwmbran’s Arthur is a 2002 Commonwealth Games gold medallist, but retired from boxing in July 2005.
He returned almost three years later and has won seven fights on the bounce.
The 30-year-old earned himself the mandatory position for Lindsay’s Lonsdale belt after outpointing Akaash Bhatia in June.
He said: “The reason I came back was to win the British title and I think my challenge will be a helluva fight.”
The undercard is stacked with talent from Maloney’s and Steve Wood’s impressive VIP stable.
Among those fighting are Olympic bronze medallist David Price, former British super-middleweight champion Tony Quigley, British flyweight king Shinny Bayaar, Paul Edwards, Mark Moran, Karl Place, Rick Goddins and Kieran Farrell.
Tickets for are available for £40 and £80 ringside from 0871 226 1508 or www.frankmaloney.com

 

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The dawn of a new decade signifies the beginning of another exciting period for Irish boxing with the stars of the next generation being showcased on the Yanjing Fight Night at the National Stadium in Dublin on Saturday, February 13th. For the first time ever a record breaking 4 Irish titles will be up for grabs on the same night with the Heavyweight, Super Middleweight, Lightweight and Featherweight belts on the line. The event will be headlined by the long talked about clash between unbeaten Cavan star Andy Murray and Dublin's Oisin “Gael Force” ***an in their Irish Lightweight decider.
The undercard will feature the first Irish Heavyweight title fight in almost 13 years with Galway's Coleman Barrett and Dublin's Colin Kenna contesting the vacant crown while the Super Middleweight title will also be up for grabs between Dublin's Anthony Fitzgerald and Leeds based Belfast man Lee Murtagh.
At Featherweight the exciting Dubliner Patrick Hyand will look to make the first defence of his title and put his 18 fight unbeaten record on the line against London based Cork man Mickey Coveney. It all adds up to a quality night of Irish title action in Dublin as the likes of Murray, Hyland, Barrett and Fitzgerald look to underline their status as the future stars of Irish boxing.
Promoter Brian Peters believes this is the kind of grassroots event that underlines the current strength of Irish boxing. “To have 4 Irish title fights in one night is amazing when you consider that at the start of the last decade we had a 5 year period (April 2000 – February 2005) without even one Irish title fight,” said Peters.
“Next months show underlines just how much the sport has grown here over the last 5 years and the level of talent that's still emerging through the ranks. RTÉ's support has been crucial to that development and they will be covering this event live as well. I think that underlines their continued commitment to the development of the sport here and the emerging talent coming through the ranks.
“The main event is a real crossroads clash between Andy and Oisin and it's a fight Irish boxing fans have been talking about for quite a while now,” said Peters. “Coleman Barrett did brilliantly in the last heavyweight Prizefighter getting to the final. He was winning the final too until he got caught by Audley Harrison so its great to see him in an Irish Heavyweight title fight and to have that title active again.
“Patrick Hyland and Anthony Fitzgerald have both been very impressive of late so there will be a lot of talent on display next month and with Irish titles on the line there's going to be an awful lot of pride at stake as well.”
Andy Murray is surely the most established of the emerging talents on the Irish scene having won two Irish titles (at Lightweight and Light Welterweight) and the European Union Lightweight title en route to compiling a 17 fight unbeaten record.
A broken collarbone suffered last September threatened to derail Murray's progress but he made a quick return to action when he outpointed Ecuador's Alex Bone in an exciting encounter on the undercard to Matthew Macklin's points win at the National Stadium last month. Now Murray's looking forward to topping a bill live on RTÉ for the first time and finally coming face to face with friend and rival Oisin ***an in the ring.
“It's great to headline on RTÉ because it really boosts your profile,” said Murray. “It's going to be great experience for me and it's all part of the learning curve as your career progresses. It's a massive chance for me to show people what I can do and hopefully it will be the start of a big year for me. I've loads of respect for Oisin, we've always got on well but we'll have to put that aside on the night. I've had to fight my friends down through the years in the amateurs, it's just something you get on with and afterwards there's no hard feelings, it's just business at the end of the day.
“Oisin's been in with some of the best and he has all that experience from those big fights he had during his time in the U.S. so I know it's going to b a very hard night but obviously I'm confident that I can win it.”
Reflecting on last month's win Murray said, “Mentally or physically I probably wasn't at my best going into that fight but I was determined to get back in the ring as quickly as possible. The collarbone was still a concern going into the fight because it was still a bit tender. I sparred ok but you never really know how an injury like that will react until you're actually in there in a real fight. I came through ok and I was happy enough with the win but the collarbone was a little sore afterwards.
“I've been having physio on it since and it definitely feels a lot stronger now so I don't think it's going to be a factor in this fight.”
Murray's opponent knows all about broken bones with Portmarnock native ***an having suffered a broken leg in his defeat to current World Champ Amir Khan just over a year ago. “It was a freak injury,” recalled ***an who has also held the Irish Light Welterweight title previously.
“Khan caught me with a nice hook but it was a punch that wouldn’t normally have been enough to put me down. It put me off balance though and my foot turned awkwardly, I felt my ankle doubling up underneath me and heard a sickening crack. I knew at that moment, that I had broken something but I thought it was my ankle. The pain was incredible, but I got back up to fight.”
Amazingly ***an fought on for another round with what doctors eventually diagnosed was a spiral fracture of his left fibula. The Dubliner made a speedy recovery and has since had three fights including a thrilling all Irish clash with Eddie Hyland which was voted the domestic fight of 2009.
He could be in line for that award again in 2010 if his clash with Murray lives up to expectations. “Andy and I have shared quite a few cards together over the last few years and we've got to know each other. He’s always been a gentleman and very down to earth so I respect him both inside and outside of the ring.
“He's an exceptional boxer and he's fundamentally sound, with a great amateur pedigree and a stellar reputation. That said, those who have followed my career up to now, know that reputations don’t really bother me and I tend to get riled up for the bigger occasions. I never run from anyone and I will walk through walls to get at my opponent. I fight for the respect of my countrymen and will go toe-to-toe with anyone in the world, to show them the heart and determination of a true son of Ireland. I’ve mixed it with the best in the world and have been unlucky at times, but my luck has got to change at some point and I feel that this is my time to shine!”
While Murray and ***an will be contesting the Irish Lightweight title the big men will be going toe to toe at heavyweight with Coleman Barrett and Colin Kenna contesting the vacant national crown. Barrett's impressive amateur career saw him win a Bronze medal at the World Junior Championships in 2000 but his professional career had been of the stop start variety until he got the call to enter the most recent Heavyweight Prizefighter tournament.
Barrett, a first cousin of former Olympian Francis Barrett upset the odds by reaching the final where he appeared to be on his way to a points win against Olympic Gold medallist Audley Harrison before the big Londoner found the punches to stop the Galway native.
Now Barrett is hoping to follow in the footstep of the first ever Irish Heavyweight Champion, Peter Maher a fellow Galway man who won the title in 1890 before going on to win the World Heavyweight title. “This is a huge opportunity for me,” said Barrett who has won all but one of his pro fights with the lone defeat coming against Harrison.
“To fight for the Irish Heavyweight title will be a very proud moment for me in my career and it's something I've always wanted to win.”
As for Harrison Barrett says he has unfinished business with the Londoner. “I'd love a rematch with him and the opportunity to return the favour. There is talk of him fighting for the European title in March and I wish him the very best of luck with that. Maybe if he wins he might consider giving me a rematch but for now I'm just happy to focus on this Irish title fight.”
Kenna however is equally fired up for next months bout. The brother of former Irish soccer international Jeff Kenna said, “This is a title I've wanted since the day I turned pro. I'm really fired up for this one and although I'm based in Southampton I'm a very proud Dubliner so it will be extra special getting to fight for it in my hometown.”
Another proud Dubliner is reigning Irish Featherweight Champ Patrick Hyland. The Tallaght man, (one of three brothers all boxing professionally and all reigning Irish Champs) has a perfect record of 18 straight wins and he'll be looking to add to that next month with a win over Mickey Coveney, a seasoned campaigner from London with roots in County Cork.
The fourth Irish title fight on the card is the rearranged Super Middleweight title bout between Dublin's Anthony Fitzgerald and Lee Murtagh. The bout was originally supposed to take place in December but a knee injury forced Murtagh to withdraw however Fitzgerald is sticking to his prediction of a win inside three rounds.
Two non title fights on the bill will see featherweight prospect Willie Casey and new Belfast pro Jamie Conlan looking to extend their unbeaten records.
Tickets for the Yanjing Fight Night priced €30, €40, €50 and €60 are available from Ticketmaster (phone 0818 719 300 or visit ticketmaster.ie) and all usual outlets.

 

Andy Murray v ***an
Conny Barrett v Kenna
Pajo v Coveney
Anto Fitzgerald v Murtagh..

good card and Mel Cristle also said that whoever wins the heavey weight title has to fight Roggie in 3 months.

there was also talk about Katie Taylor going on the show and some probs re pro ams?

 

there will be no amatuers.....The IABA have banned all pro-am shows,
it was only in the paper the other day

 

They also banned smiling and having fun

 

Does anyone fancy ***an to cause an "upset" I fancy Murray on points. How far can Pajo go and what should be his targets for the year?

 

***an could cause an upset, Murray was unimpressive in Dec. Pajo could win the European title this year. A fight with Belfasts Martin Lindsay for that title would be mega:hey

 

for the Irish title?

 

Love the Old Skool poster!!! its a peach!

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Yeah. Solid enough card, I mean 4 Irish title fights is hard to argue with. Love the poster and the pricing is reasonable. Should be a good one. I might bring the missus as an early valentines day present. i'd say she'll be delighted :bbb

 

Indeed, I love everything about this card. Let hope that BPP keeps churning out these "Championship" level cards to compliment his "Premiership" cards.