Irish Boxing

Are you going to the finals tonight Ardy?

 

http://www.boxingnewsonline.net/BN08/detail.asp?id=1468

Murray and ***an shape up for big clash

Both men talk to Steve Wellings



BRIAN PETERS’ Dublin headliner on February 13 will be a classic battle of skill versus will as Cavan stylist Andrew Murray defends his Irish lightweight belt against hometown veteran Oisin ***an. Should all go to plan, the main event will be the fourth Irish title clash on a card packed with domestic talent. For the unassuming Murray, who has also claimed an EU title at lightweight, the story is particularly uplifting. Medical complications in Andrew’s early years not only threatened his chances of boxing at championship level, but also his ability to walk.


“I had Perthes disease and my hip joint came apart from my leg so I was a bit limp and couldn’t move the leg,” explained the 27-year-old who went on to claim three Irish senior titles as an amateur, before turning pro under Mick Helliett in London. “I had it in plaster of Paris for a couple of years and was on crutches for about a year-and-a-half.


“I was one of the lucky ones because I’ve seen cases where the one leg is shortened by the hip not sitting in the right place. I think I got it at the right time and the procedures were put in place early, plus my boxing training has helped strengthen it over time. It can be very disheartening when you’re young because you want to be running around and doing things that the others are doing but we all have our own stories and I’m okay now.”


Andrew has found a new lease of life since hooking up with Brian Peters and training in Belfast under John Breen. A broken collarbone kept him out of the ring from July last year until a December slot on the Matthew Macklin-Rafa Sosa Pintos undercard in December against livewire Ecuadorian Alex Bone. Murray had little time to shed the rust as Bone put his fitness under immediate scrutiny.


“Bone threw plenty of big digs at me and it took me a while to get back to my best but I started moving my head a bit more and used my reach to keep him under control,” said Andrew. “If I hadn’t fought Bone then it would have been a long layoff so I needed to get active. I was a bit rusty starting off but under the circumstances I thought I did pretty well and my shoulder was a wee bit sore during the middle rounds. The shoulder’s not too bad now though.


“Oisin ***an is all heart, he’s mentally strong and I know he’ll keep coming at me despite the age gap; he’s very fit. Alex Bone was a bit like Oisin, style-wise, so it’s perfect preparation.”


***an’s tactics will be no secret. As he readily admits, effective aggression is the order of the day.


“Technically Murray’s a much better boxer than me, in every sense of the word,” conceded the 36-year-old ***an. “Saying that, I believe he’s never fought anyone with my heart or faced the pressure I can bring.


“Sometimes you have to be in that position to see how you cope with aggression and I’m hoping to bring it on and force him all the way. I’ve never sparred Andrew but we’ve been on many shows together so I’ve seen quite a bit of him and I look through the tapes and study them for weaknesses. He’s fundamentally sound and there’s nothing he does wrong.”


Since ***an relocated to his native Ireland – following a productive career in the United States – coach Phil Sutcliffe has taken the man nicknamed “Gael Force” under his wing at the Crumlin gym in Dublin.


Oisin is enthused by the new regime: “Training’s going great, I’ve got good sparring partners in the Crumlin gym, guys like Dean Byrne who has been out in LA with Freddie Roach and he’s mimicking Murray’s style to make sure I get a good workout. I’m training every day and feel well prepared; the weight poses no issues.


“If Andrew beats me then he’ll probably be targeting a crack at the European title and if I beat him I could fight for his EU belt and get a top five European ranking.


“Alex Bone gave it a good go and Bone’s style is not unlike my own. He came forward and I’d try and get in with hooks like Alex did. My trainers Phil Sutcliffe and Joe Clifford have been working on a secret weapon; I think we may have spotted one or two slight weaknesses in his game that we can exploit.”


***an enjoys being based in his home city. “Being up in Belfast meant I was miles from home and it was tough driving up all the time,” lamented Oisin, “so it suits a lot better for me to train in Dublin and be closer to my family and a lot more comfortable.”


Murray, meanwhile, lauds the training camp he has enjoyed.

“I’ve been sparring Michael Kelly and Jamie Conlan for speed work and can’t wait to get in there and give the Irish public a great scrap,” he said.

 

Good article. I hope he does well :soccergr:

 

Bits in the Mirror yesterday lads!

Brian McGee To Fight For A World Title In 2010



Jonny Stapleton


New European Super Middleweight Champion Brian Magee will fight for a World Title before 2010 it was claimed last week.



Brian Magee is now enjoying a well earned break in Euro Disney but Pat Magee will instantly set about ensuring a 2010 World Title shot for the former Holy Trinity amateur.



Magee should be ranked within WBA top five by the end of the week after sensationally inflicting only a third defeat on top ten ranked Mads Larsen in Denmark on Saturday night.



And with the Super Six tournament tying up some of the world’s best known Super Middleweights Pat Magee believes Brian could become mandatory for one of the world straps.



Magee did stress Ireland’s third reigning European Champion would make the best financial use of his new acquisition with a lucrative voluntary defense possibly in Belfast in the summer.



But the manager, who claims he was contacted by WBO champ Robert Stieglitz’s people before the European challenge, is confident Brian Magee will up grade to a World Champion before the turn of the year.



“Saturday’s win was tremendous and well deserved. I am back in the office now and I will contact the world boxing associations to ensure Brian is ranked accordingly. We won’t make any hard fast decisions and we are going to put some money in the bank first but Brian Magee will fight for a world title by the end of the year,” Pat Magee explained.



“The WBA and WBO belts are European held and are certainly attainable. Brian should be ranked within the WBA top five. With the Super Six tournament taking up the time of some of those above Brian he could become mandatory. As European Champion and with the form he is the most credible opponents out there. But in between now and then we defend the title against an opponent that suits us or the one that pays the most.”




Sinclair To Prize Open Boxing Doors


Jonny Stapleton



Irish light middleweight champion Neil Sinclair will become the fourth Irish fighter to compete in the exciting Prizefighter series when he battles it out for a £35,000 purse on February 26.



However it is neither the Prizefighter trophy nor the substantial cheque that the Belfast native is most excited about.



Sinclair, who has been installed as the early favourite, insists he will use the exciting tournament to secure title shots just like his Irish prize fighting predecessors.


Irish heavy weights Martin Rogan, Coleman Barrett and Colin Kenna have all impressed in the unique fight night and saw a transformation in their careers as a result.


Winner of the first Prizefighter, Rogan benefited most and went on to become the Commonwealth heavyweight champion after a fight of the year contender with World title challenger Matt Sexton.


While Barrett and Kenna will contest the first Irish heavy weight title fight in over a decade on February 13.



Sinclair is hoping for similar success and believes if he does well on Prize Fighter 10 he can secure a commonwealth or even European Title shot.



“Every fight you take at this stage of your career is make or break. They determine if you go on and progress or not. I want to keep taking chances and Prize Fighter is worth taking as it will lead to title shots. A possible title shots is more of a lure than the payday. Prizefighter has proven it can open doors and the Irish fighters that have entered have done well out of it. I am hoping to secure a Commonwealth Title and I always wanted to fight for the European Belt,” Sinclair, who has been linked with John Duddy and James Moore of late, explained.



“I am confident of winning. It won’t be easy but I feel its there for me to win. I am in good form and with a bit of luck my name will end up on the trophy. I have been made favourite but that means nothing there are a lot of good fighters involved.”

 

Steve has a new interview with Carl up on irish-boxing.com

 

Will you post results and maybe a small run down, some good fights tonight especially the 64k which should be a real old fashions boxer/fighter clash.Also the 75 k clash should be a belter.O kane is always in good fights.
I have never been to the Ulster finals (i always seem to be working or busy)but would love to go i hear its quite a night and the atmosphere is electric.

 

Hopefully Lindberg comes through. Always a fan of the lad and I'd like to see him go the whole way this year

 

Lindbergs a good lad and I hope he does the business aswell.

 

Here's my predictions fir the ulster finals
flyweight... Conlon
bantam... Lindberg
lightweight... I love Tyrone McKenna and hope he wins but can't see it. The judges seem to love ohara. Should have been McKenna vs mccullogh in this final.
Light welter... Tight one but I pick donnelly
welter... Willy Mcloughlin
middle... Eamonn O'Kane
light heavy... Big tommy easy 1st round
heavy... John sweeny
super heavy... Cathal mcmonagal

what's everone elses predictions?

 

He's only lost once :huh, that's not to say he's a great fighter the likelyhood is he'll be poor enough but how can you say the 3 times he's stepped up he's been trounced when his record is 22-1-2, and he's been stepping up in class recently with only one loss(to the very good Mitirosyan), with stoppage wins coming in his other biggest fights(over Christian Solano and Bladamir Hernandez).

The rest of what you say stands though, he's a Light-Middleweight as is Lange and both are nowhere near contender class. It does really seem like a ploy by Arum to build Duddy back up a little, get him some seemingly good wins and then match him with Chavez jnr when he's okay to fight again.
Of course making John and Top Rank some money in the mean time.

 

Nope. Bit of a sore point with the that :fire

 

http://www.irish-boxing.com/stories/february10/feb10_frampton_speaks.html