Irish Boxing

The Best of the Irish

Professional boxing returns to its spiritual home in the National Stadium this month amid calls for Irish fans to help create the next Bernard Dunne. DolPhil Promotions hosts the first professional card in the Stadium since July 2008, entitled Best of the Irish, when homegrown fighters such as Eddie Hyland and Willie Casey attempt to capture the imagination of the Irish public the same way that former WBA super-bantamweight champion Dunne did..

The two men behind DolPhil Promotions, businessman Don O'Leary and legendary Irish Olympian Phil Sutcliffe, are calling on Irish fans to get behind the smaller promoters in the long-term interest of Irish boxing.

Don O'Leary said: "It's quite simple. We need the stadium to be packed out come fight night. Not to make a profit - it's all but impossible to do so in this game - but because it is imperative if Irish boxing is to succeed in the future. Irish boxing had a setback with Bernard Dunne losing his title, but there is plenty to still be excited about and there is a whole new generation ready for the limelight.

"We are putting on smaller shows for supporters and boxers alike at great expense. If we were in it for the money, we'd have run a mile by now. People sometimes complain that there are no marquee opponents for our fighters. But we are a fledgling promotional outfit. If we get people behind us who come to our shows and pack the place out, Phil and I will be able to build on that and make stronger cards every time. You have to walk before you can run.

"However, there can be no complaints about this card. Eddie Hyland will be up against someone with real pedigree, while the rematch that everyone wanted to see between Anthony Fitzgerald and Robbie Long has been negotiated and is on. Fans will also get to see Cuban sensation Alexei Acosta in action, and I can guarantee that nobody will be left in any doubt that featherweight Willie Casey is a champion in the making."O'Leary insists DolPhil are prepared to put their money where their mouth is by keeping prices down. With tickets as low as €10, he says it is a win-win for all concerned.

"We want to make a deal with the fight public. Come to see what we have to offer and we'll take keep our prices down. The most expensive ticket is €50, while a family ticket costs €55. That entitles two adults to bring two children under 16 to the National Stadium. The gallery seats are €20 while children under 16 get in for €10. That is great value to see the next generation of Irish stars. It will also help to keep producing better and bigger shows as we move forward."

A packed card sees Tallaght's Irish super-featherweight champion Eddie Hyland (13-1, 4KO) co-feature at the top of the bill, with the promise of an opponent that prepares him for a shot at the European title in 2010.

The long-awaited rematch between Sheriff Street's Anthony Fitzgerald (4-2, 2KO) and Tallaght's Robbie Long (4-0, 1KO) also stands at the top, with the two men hoping to reach the thrilling heights reached in six rounds of frenzied action back in January of this year.

Gary Hyde's big-hitting Cuban starlet Alexei Acosta (7-0, 7KO), who is now based in Belfast, will be looking to keep up his perfect record before an expected assault on an international title in November on the undercard of Paul McCloskey's European title challenge against Souleymane M'Baye.

Perennial crowd favourite Oisin ***an (24-7, 15KO), who once took the heavily touted Julio Cesar Chavez Jr the distance and lost on a split decision against former world champion Paul Spadafora, is fresh off a victory on the undercard of Dunne-Poonsawat and has still not given up the dream of professional honours. He dropped a decision to Eddie Hyland in the National Basketball Arena in July in one of the best fights in an Irish ring in recent times.

Limerick's Willie Casey (1-0, 1KO), known as the Big Bang, enters the ring with coach Phil Sutcliffe convinced he has the tools to be a world champion. The West of Ireland will also be represented with Galway's John Waldron (2-2, 1KO) and Mayo's Finbarr Eade (1-0), while Dublin's Gavin Prunty (0-1)attempts to record his first in-ring victory.O'Leary said he was confident that Saturday, October 24 could be the next launching pad for Irish boxing.

"It is always special to be in the National Stadium and it always brings out the best in Irish fighters. If fans pack the place out like we expect them to, we will make it a night to remember together. World champions emerge from nights like it. It will be a great occasion."

See www.dolphilboxing.com for more details. ​

 

Ta Cormac






An Irishman in New York
07 October 2009 - By John Knox I dropped by Gleasons last week to see how James Moore is faring in his quest for boxing glory. He comes across as a personable, down-to-earth bloke with a great memory for every detail of his career (amateur and pro). His easygoing manner and unmarked face do not fit the stereotype of a hardened pug with a knack of dispatching the opposition before the final bell. But then stereotyping never does tell the real story, which is what I wanted.
So, among the usual background gym noise of grunts, thuds and whirring ropes, as well as the more unusual sight of two female world champions sparring a few metres away (only in Gleasons), Moore filled me in on the latest.
Q: Where would you like to see your career going over the next one or two years?
A: "I’m thinking of going up to middleweight. I’ve been struggling for the past year at junior middleweight so I think I’ll move up now and see what happens from there."
Q: What is your ideal fight now?
A: "Chavez (junior) would be a good one. He’s 40 and 0 with 30 knockouts but he’s actually not that good. He’s been babyed along so that would be a good fight if I can get it."
Q: What’s your career highlight so far?
A: "I fought at the Garden (Madison Square Garden]) in March 2008 against JC Candelo. He went the distance with Winky Wright and Verno Phillips and I beat him on points in a tough 10-round fight. I’ve fought in the Garden three times and I've had three good results there so it's almost like a home for me."
Q: Did the Candelo fight go the way you thought it would?
A: "Not really, no. I thought he would have been trickier. I hit him with everything bar the kitchen sink for the first two rounds and he was still standing looking at me, it was kind of surprising. At first he hardly threw a punch and the first power punch he threw was in the third round when he got me with an uppercut and I saw every light on the ceiling in Madison Square Garden. It lifted my head right up. I knew then I wasn’t going to get him so I just boxed the rest of the fight."
Q: It sounds like an ideal learning fight.
A: "That’s what you want. You need fights like that to move up through the levels. A guy can have ten fights and have a lot more experience than a guy who's had twenty. It all depends on who you’re fighting."
Q: You’re well known now and have a good following. You could be on the verge of something big...
A: "I fought Yuri Foreman for the NABF title and that was a world title eliminator. He’s fighting Daniel Santos in his next fight for the world title. In publicity circles I don’t get the same headlines other fighters get but in the boxing world I would be considered a much more realistic fighter than a lot of other fighters making headlines and not really fighting anybody. Some guys have high-profile coaches who make up lies just to get their name in the paper and other guys have big PR teams. I’ve never had any of that and I never wanted it either. Realistically I know how close I was to getting a world title fight."
Q: How was the Foreman fight for you?
A: "I just couldn’t catch him, he was too quick for me. I was looking to fight and everything was stacked against me. It was on a Top Rank card and we were in the biggest ring you could be in which was 22 square feet, which makes no sense when the main event that night was a 140-pound fight."
Q: There is no secret about Foreman’s style, but was he faster than you anticipated?
A: "I think I gave him a bit of confidence in the early rounds. He caught me with a couple of shots and maybe his confidence went up. I was looking for one big punch instead of working [my way in] and trying to catch him. I did that throughout the fight and I didn’t change (my style). In the eighth round I landed a pretty decent shot on him, he spat the gumshield out twice and the referee never even gave him a warning."
Q: Do you fancy coming back and having one or two big fights at home?
A: "This is the problem. Of course I’d love to go home but the reality is it makes no sense financially. At the end of the day it’s business, this is my job."
Q: Take Neil Sinclair for example, that’s a big fight. Do you not find it a bit unusual that promoters can’t entice you over?
A: "I don’t know. I mean they’re blaming the economy and everything else but they’re not bringing ticket prices down that much either. Sinclair would be a great fight and I'd love it to happen. But that's up to the promoters. Frank Warren's offer made no sense to fight Sinclair on the Rogan show in Belfast."
Q: Are you pleased with the way your career has gone so far?
A: "Pretty much. I’ve had my eye on the business end right from the start. A good friend of mine looks after the business. No matter what happens he always contacts me and lets me know (what’s going on). Professional boxing is more a business than a sport. You have to keep your eye on everything and be sure to dot the “Is” and cross the “Ts” because promoters will do you over every chance they get.
"On one of my fights I was literally gloved up and ready to get in the ring and a revised contract came in because the opponent changed and they cut my purse in half. Can you imagine - it’s Madison Square Garden and you’re standing there ready to go and the contract came in. What are you going to do. People had flown over from Ireland to watch the fight."
Q: Do you see yourself staying in the sport a few more years?
A: "I don’t know. The Foreman fight was my first run at a world title. I have to revise everything now and get another go at it. Every fight is for my career now."
And that, as they say, is 'the story'. During our chat I noticed Moore has a tattoo on his right forearm saying 'One Life One Love'. It struck me that there was another 'one' James is after: one chance. I don’t mean the 'last chance saloon' type either. His body language and obvious enthusiasm were too positive for that. The vibe I was getting was more along the lines of – give me the big stage, I know what I can do.
One thing is for sure. If (make that when) he gets that chance the green flags will be out in force, whichever side of the Atlantic it happens.

 

This was quite a good press release no hocus pocus no false promises and quite reasonable tickets for what your getting then i read Suttcliffe is conviced Willy Casey can be a world champion :nutI saw willy fight in the stadium as an amateur and is a really tough guy but a world champ he is not.Just looked out of place in this piece unless it was designed in Limerick of course..Either way good luck to them and i will definetly head up i think.

 

Yes it is I cheers lads. Next fight is on the 6th November on the undercard of Paul mccloskey vs m'baye. I just heard that martin Lindsay has been added to the bill aswel as the Cuban bantam weight now based in Belfast alexi acosta. Looks like it's gona be a good bill

 

Any chance of you getting some TV time?

:deal

 

That is a quality bill, I am going to the Rogie bill, but looking forward to seeing this on sky+. Carl it would be great to get the footage of your first couple of pro-fights up on youtube, I heard great reports of your progress so far. Best of luck pal:good

 

ahh **** I really need to convince my da that we should dump the rogie tickets to get ones for this

 

an article in todays mirror lads-great to see a show on in the staduim again-i thought peters had some sort of exclusive deal there?

Dean Byrnes Manager has been tipping him to be ire n ext big superstar recently-ould love to see him fight in ireland


jonny stapleton

If recently deposed World Champion Bernard Dunne decides against retiring he will have to take the long road back to the top after Israel “Magnifico” Vazquez put paid to a potential clash with the Irish fighter and subsequently an instant return to world class boxing for the popular Dubliner.



A mouthwatering “Mega” clash with former pound for pound world champion Vazquez had been earmarked for Dunne even before his sensational defeat to Thai tank Poonsawat late last month.



The Mexican, who was at one stage deemed the greatest boxer on the planet, confirmed he was interested in a clash with former sparring partner Dunne but has lost interest since the Pride of Dublin was stripped of his WBA World Title.



However despite claiming Dunne would have to make a return to winning ways before he would consider him as an opponent Vazquez has tipped his friend to bounce back just as he did.



“It's unfortunate that Bernard Dunne lost, because my team and I were seriously considering him as a future opponent. A fight with Bernard Dunne and me would be a good fight. I think we both have an exciting aggressive style. That is something that the fans would have appreciated. I would have liked to fight in Ireland. I hope in the near future I will be able to fight there. But Bernard needs to get back in the win column for us to consider him again. But I wish him nothing but the best. I'm sure he will be back,” the pugilist whose trilogy with Rafael Marquez will go down in history explained before rubbishing calls for Dunne to hang up his gloves instead suggesting a change in weight.



“I don't think Bernard Dunne should retire. Many people thought I should have retired when I lost to Marquez. But I proved that hard work and determination can go a long way. I'm sure Bernard will be back. What weight he competes at is between Bernard and his team. I don't know if he was struggling to make junior featherweight but I'm sure he would feel comfortable at the featherweight division.”

 

They surely mean Oscar Larios not De la Hoya.
Hopefully Duddy makes a good return Saturday, it'll be interesting to see how being back with Harry Keit changes him.

 

theres talk in todays belfast telegraph of sinky fighting anthony small at the odyssey... thats a tough tough fight:scaredas::good

 

The Mexican who was once deemed the greatest boxer on the planet? :huh
A win over DLH? :huh

I had him P4P #4 at his peak. I don't think he was ever universally recognised as the top P4P #1 or even in the Ring Magazine.

The DLH thing is just a lack of fact checking

 

sorry forgot to fix the DHL- typo kind of- im dyslexic- the oscar just made my brain type DLH- He told me he was once Ring Mag's pound of pound-

Anyway he is interested in Dunne but not just yet

 

hi carl i,m a big hyland fan and going back to your last senior c/ships paddy hyland snr told everyone in meath street (thats in the liberties dublin) when he came back from camp in spain to put their houses on you winning the irish title he said you and joyce would be the best fight of the c/hampionsips but you would have too much for anyone in your weight. i,m a relation of john sweeney from the liberties he was senior champion back in the day, i want to wish you every success in your career and i think you have made a great friend in the hylands and hope to maybe see you on one of their shows:bbb

 

paddy do you know if there is any truth to michael sweeney sparring with arthur abraham ?

 

I know the feeling:huh