Andy Lee v Willie Gibbs and Paul McCloskey v Nigel Wright

streamed live from here:http://www.rte.ie/sport/webcastschedule.html from 21:30 and shown live on RTÉ 2 in Ireland .

Andy Lee and Paul McCloskey face their toughest tasks yet in Limerick tonight as they try and prove their tag as World Class prospects .

Lee faces tough American Willie Gibbs in what seems like a tougher fight that Lee's last(which he lost) against Brian Vera . Gibbs carries more power than vera too so Lee will have to be careful .

In the fight with most relevance to this forum, Paul McCloskey and Nigel Wright face in what is seen by some as an unnoficial eliminator . The board refused to make it an actual eliminator as the bout was in Ireland(despite Oakey v Magee being for the British title in Dublin last year) .

Wright also wanted McCloskey's IBF International title on the line but I don't think Peters or McCloskey's camp were bothered with paying the fees for the bauble title, hence it's a 10 round bout .
A win for McCloskey would certainly put him in the British and European title mix and if McCloskey's camp are to look at a fight against Gianluca Branco in the near future he needs an impressive win here . McCloskey is ranked 14th by the EBU and Wright is ranked 20th so a win should move Paul up a few places, while a win for Nigel would probably move him up quite a bit .

There is quite a lot on the line and the winner will reap decent rewards and imo McCloskey will be that winner(and clearly too), Wright is a decent fighter with a very good jab but I just feel Paul will be too slick and tricky for the English Light-Welterweight champion .

Wright did put up a very good showing in his last fight though losing narrowly to the #4 WBC rated Ajose Olusegun and if Wright is at his best McCloskey will be forced into having to prove he's at European(at least) and possibly World level .

The undercard sees Stephen Haughian(like McCloskey eligible for the British title) take on a Italian with a decent record and we also see the continued comeback of former English Welterweight champion John O'Donnell .
Jason McKay(who's looking for a crack at the Commonwealth Middleweight title), Keith Cresham, Irish-Canadian Logan McGuinness and Limerick's very own Jamie Power round off the bill .