Irish Boxing

aware i asked a few days ago about Kenny egan and was told he signed with banner promotions, but why so low key? not really reported? has his plans been set out? any debut date?is he based in nyc? questions questions questions

can see it in a few years, title holders (alphabet or not) egan at light heavy, sutherland SMW, Lee Mw, duddy LMW------all comes together for a super double unification at croke park 2011!

 

yeah mate ...we can all dream....and thats an ace dream...by any1 standards:good

 

I think first bell on Thursday is at 6.30

 

Are you heading along Cormac?

 

sutherland could bring even more excitement to an already thriving irish boxing scene....me hopes:good

 

Was there aswell Lee hammered Sutherlnd that night beat him by 10 points or so,but more interesting nearly knocked him out.Wobbled him badly for a count but Lees corner told him to concentrate on boxing and he ran out a good winner.
Disapointed we didnt get to see another as Darren took a couple of years off after that.Good luck to both........

 

- I'll fly home for that card

 

"Mayo News" review.

Resurrecting a forgotten man
Tuesday, 16 December 2008
Resurrecting a forgotten man


Mattie Donnellon has spent four years researching an Irish world champion

Daniel Carey

EVER hear about the Galwayman who was heavyweight champion of the world? It’s a fascinating story, but one that had been lost in the mists of time – until it was rescued by Mattie Donnellon, who has just written a book about it.
Donnellon, who lives in Ballyhenry, between Shrule and Kilmaine, has had a lifelong interest in boxing history. He often saw the name ‘Peter Maher’ in record books, but little seemed to be known about this Irishman who was among the outstanding boxers of the late 19th and early 20th century.
Mattie Donnellon’s wife Mary Steede hails from Kilbannon, near Tuam, and his brother-in-law recalled seeing a photograph of Maher in a house in the village. Digging deeper, Mattie found a copy of the boxer’s birth cert, and found he was from Kilbannon, where the Donnellons had got married. Suddenly, he had ‘a whole load of material’ and decided to write a book on this forgotten sporting hero.
That decision saw him devote four years of late nights to putting Maher’s story together. The result of this mammoth undertaking is ‘The Irish Champion Peter Maher’, which was published earlier this year. Work as a store manager in Griffith’s garage in Claremorris, the father of six’s involvement as a coach with Kilmaine Boxing Club and as an IABA judge, meant that most of the book was written between 11pm and 3am! “But it never seemed like hard work,” he says, having clearly viewed the enterprise as a labour of love.
Mattie Donnellon describes in the acknowledgements how ‘the seeds of writing [the] book were sown 40 years ago’ by his father, who week in, week out, ‘somehow managed to bring home Boxing News, the brilliant boxing magazine with the occasional Ring as an imaginable bonus’.
“Years followed, sparring with my brother Joe, using the left glove (he had the right one, he was two years older!) as we could only afford one pair,” he writes. “An emptied-out water tank, or the back of our father’s truck, became our Madison Square Garden.”
The text is peppered with contemporary newspaper reports –Donnellon visited libraries in Dublin, Galway, Tuam, Castlebar and Edinburgh, and delved into the archives of numerous American newspapers via the internet. There’s also a host of photographs which, he says, ‘came from all over the place’ – cigarette cards, studio photos, old boxing magazines, people selling memorabilia.
Donnellon says a case can be made that Peter Maher was ‘the greatest fighter ever produced by Ireland’. He was certainly among the hardest hitters ever seen in the fight game, and the book contains some wonderfully vivid accounts of his major fights.
Maher’s finest hour came with a 63-second demolition of Steve O’Donnell, an Australian born of Irish parents. Reigning world champion ‘Gentleman’ Jim Corbett, whose father hailed from the parish of Kilmaine, entered the ring afterwards to announce his retirement and declare Maher the new champ. “Reaction to this extraordinary turn of events was varied,” writes Donnellon, and “history has not been kind to Maher’s claim”. But, he adds, ‘a lot of guys have become champions in far less worthy circumstances’.
Maher’s subsequent fight against Bob Fitzsimmons was truly remarkable. It took place in the desert in Mexico as the boxers tried to stay once step ahead of law enforcement agencies who were determined to stop it. That it went ahead was due in part to Judge Roy Bean, an extraordinary character subsequently portrayed on screen by Paul Newman.
Maher’s later life makes for grim reading. He was not a diligent trainer, struggled with drink and had some major domestic problems. Yet he remained ‘extremely popular’ with the boxing fraternity, who did their best to see him through hard times.
Donnellon has devoted 100 pages to the compilation of an exhaustive records section which, he says, involved ‘more work’ than the 240-page narrative. This exhaustive ‘anorak’s guide’ has proved hugely popular with boxing historians.

‘The Irish Champion Peter Maher’ by Matt Donnellon is published by Trafford Publishing. It is available from Eason’s in Galway, Eason’s in Tuam, Tuam Bookshop, online, or from the author, who can be contacted on 087 6152022.

 

Impressive stuff Matt:good

 

I think i know what to tell my mammy to get me for chrimbo!

 

Does anyone have details of the weigh-ins for tonights fights in Dublin.

 

I cant help you there nutter. But Im finishing of in work now. Im as hungry as a horse and I have a raging thirst. So Im meeting the mates in about 20 mins, where we will have a bite to eat and a couple of drinks, then head round to the fights. Im expecting an explosive performance tonight from the Dazzler.Catch you later.:hi:

 

OK Marty, you and anyone else going tonight, enjoy yourself:thumbsup

 

every1 ready 4 a greaat nite of boxing:happy:happy:happy.....sutherland in 2rds:yep...:good