Sport

Brendan Irvine and Kurt Walker to make comebacks in New York show

Brendan Irvine has only fought in one exhibition fight since landing a Commonwealth Games silver medal in April 2018, following surgery on a troublesome wrist injury. Picture by PA
Brendan Irvine has only fought in one exhibition fight since landing a Commonwealth Games silver medal in April 2018, following surgery on a troublesome wrist injury. Picture by PA Brendan Irvine has only fought in one exhibition fight since landing a Commonwealth Games silver medal in April 2018, following surgery on a troublesome wrist injury. Picture by PA

FORMER amateur stars Michael Conlan and Paddy Barnes won’t be the only Irish boxers lighting up New York on St Patrick’s weekend, with an Ulster select set to take on the best the Big Apple has to offer in a special show.

As part of the Cops and Kids programme, founded by renowned trainer and commentator Teddy Atlas, a nine-strong team of Irish fighters – headed up by Brendan Irvine and Kurt Walker – are bound for New York next month.

With the US team still finalising weights, the rest of the Ulster select has yet to be confirmed for the fight night, which will take place at the Classic Car Club in Manhattan on March 17.

On the same night Conlan will headline at Madison Square Garden theatre for the third year in-a-row, taking on Mexican Ruben Garcia Hernandez, with Barnes up against tough Texan Oscar Mojica.

Ulster High Performance coaches John Conlan and Damien Kennedy will lead the team, and Conlan is expecting some exciting fights.

“I was asked last year to bring a team over and it didn’t work out, but this year it has fallen nicely so we’ll use it to have a little look at some of the new guys coming into the programme,” said Conlan.

“They’ll be up against good guys from New York city; some will be Golden Gloves champions, there’ll be state champions, so it’ll be a good mix. It’ll be a tough enough test for the guys.”

Having been out of the ring since last year, it will also mark a long-awaited comeback for Irvine and Walker, both former international team-mates of Conlan and Barnes.

Irvine hasn’t thrown a punch in anger since May 2018 having undergone surgery on a troublesome wrist injury, while Walker broke a thumb during his European Union final win over Peter McGrail back in November.

The Irish Elite Championships, which get under way this Friday in Dublin, come too soon for both men, and the New York fight night next month will see both step between the ropes for the first time in 2019.

“We’re looking to bring Kurt and Brendan back in after serious injuries - to give them something to work for, get their hands working again,” added Conlan.

“They’ve been working flat out the last month to where they’re able to hit pads correctly, so this is an ideal opportunity for them to cut their teeth on.”

Conlan was an interested observer at last month’s Ulster Elite finals night, when some of the emerging talent in the north showcased their skills before a packed house at the Ulster Hall.

And he admits he was impressed by what he saw right across the board.

“The majority of the guys were in our programme so most of them were either seasoned campaigners or transition boxers, and I was really happy to see the transition boxers coming through and the level they were at.

“It was a great source of encouragement for me to see that we’re on the right track. I saw great improvements in the guys.”

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The Raphoe ABC select, which was cheered on by unbeaten middleweight Jason Quigley at Villa Park on Friday night
The Raphoe ABC select, which was cheered on by unbeaten middleweight Jason Quigley at Villa Park on Friday night The Raphoe ABC select, which was cheered on by unbeaten middleweight Jason Quigley at Villa Park on Friday night

RAPHOE GO TOE-TO-TOE AT VILLA PARK

A RAPHOE select gained big-fight experience at Villa Park in Birmingham on Friday night.

In front of a crowd of over 600 people in the Holte Suite at the home of Aston Villa, Raphoe lost 7-4.

Unbeaten Donegal middleweight boxer Jason Quigley, now based in Sheffield, was among the crowd alongside fellow unbeaten professionals Charlie Williams and Yves Ngabu.

“It was a great experience for our boxers in a massive stadium with an electric atmosphere,” said Raphoe chairman Peter O’Donnell.

Among Raphoe’s winners were Dennis ‘The Menace’ Lafferty, who overcame Bradley Ferrie of the Second City boxing club in Birmingham. Lafferty has a knack of pulling big results from the hat and he did so again here against the former British youth champion.

Dominic Bradley from Errigal BC overcame Louis Coley in one of the fights of the night.

Eoin McGarrell, another former Irish champion, was well in his fight with Jay Turner until Turner hit the bullseye. A fire-cracking body blow wounded McGarrell and the fight was halted in the third round.

World and European youth bronze medallist Jude Gallagher, from Two Castles in Newtownstewart, was set to guest for Raphoe on the night but his opponent, Joe Collins, withdrew from the bout on Friday morning.

Results: P Hanna (Cookstown) lt Farran Farrell (Second City) AB2; T Brolly (St John’s) lt P Farrell (Second City) 1-2; T Mayse (Two Castles) lt C Collins (North Side, Birmingham) 0-3; L McMonagle (Raphoe) lt D Cliffe (Frankie Gavin BC) 1-2; C Bigger (Cookstown) bt B Coley (Second City) 2-1; E McGarrell (Raphoe) lt J Turner (Frankie Gavin) RSC 3; D Bradley (Errigal) bt Louis Coley (Second City) 2-1; D Lafferty (Raphoe) bt Bradley Ferrie (Second City) 2-1; L Crawford (Raphoe) lt D Donnelly (Second City) 1-2; B McNamee (Convoy) bt O Cassidy (Priory Park) 3-0; R McGlinchey (Raphoe) lt to D Glover (West Warks) 0-3

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Holy Trinity entered seven boxers into the Armagh/Down Championships at Silverbridge Boxing Club last week. Jude Molyneaux and Kyle Smith put in top class performances to win gold while Mason McClintock had to settle for silver, losing out in his final in a very tight contest. James Kelly, Riley Mallon, Daniel Owens and Padraig McCleary all received walkover wins
Holy Trinity entered seven boxers into the Armagh/Down Championships at Silverbridge Boxing Club last week. Jude Molyneaux and Kyle Smith put in top class performances to win gold while Mason McClintock had to settle for silver, losing out in his final in Holy Trinity entered seven boxers into the Armagh/Down Championships at Silverbridge Boxing Club last week. Jude Molyneaux and Kyle Smith put in top class performances to win gold while Mason McClintock had to settle for silver, losing out in his final in a very tight contest. James Kelly, Riley Mallon, Daniel Owens and Padraig McCleary all received walkover wins

LEFT HOOKS

A strong Dockers team will go toe-to-toe with a select side containing fighters from across Ulster and Dublin at the Whitehouse working men’s club on the Shore Road on Friday night.

Thirteen fights are scheduled for what promises to be an evening of top quality entertainment, with some intriguing bouts listed.

Among them is the middleweight clash of Eraid Muihai and Larne’s Chris Ireland. Muihai lost out to Brett McGinty at the semi-final stage of the recent Ulster Elite Championships, but battled bravely until the end against the Oakleaf pressure fighter.

“We have some good kids there at the minute, and they’ll be up against boxers from Carrickfergus, Larne, Lisburn and Dublin, so there should be plenty of good entertainment,” said Dockers Boxing Club stalwart Paddy Fitzsimons.

The 1964 Olympian is also preparing a team for the visit of the famous Repton Boxing Club in the coming weeks.

Repton and the Dockers have a long-established link-up, taking it a year about to bring teams over to either Belfast or London for a big fight night, and this year’s show at the Dockers is not to be missed.

Friday night’s schedule (Dockers fighters listed first)

31kg: J Ferris v J McAlmont (Canal); 42kg: T McGrattan v C Kavanagh (Canal); 54kg: L Hughes v C McMaster (Carrickfergus); 75kg: L Maguire v M Owen (Larne); 60kg: L Roe v J Green (Canal); 75kg: C Saunders v C Kelly (Dublin); 75kg: M Maguire v J Millar (Canal); 69kg: C Hughes v P Walsh (Dublin); 91kg: C Maguire v N Robin (Carrickfergus); 91kg: D Ferrin v J Doran (Dublin); 75kg: E Muihai v C Ireland (Larne)

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IRELAND’S top boxers were back on the top of the podium at the Irish Athletic Boxing Association (IABA) annual awards night in Dublin last Friday.

Unsurprisingly, Dublin lightweight Kellie Harrington was named Best Overall Boxer after dominating the lightweight class in 2018.

Harrington claimed World and European Elite gold and bronze en route to joining Katie Taylor, Michael Conlan and John Joe Nevin as the only Irish boxers to be ranked number one in the world.

Harrington’s gold at the World Elites in New Delhi maintained Ireland’s grip on the 60kg belt as Taylor had won the title five times between 2006 and 2014.

Lisburn bantam Kurt Walker secured EU gold after beating England’s European Elite titlist Peter McGrail while Michaela Walsh and Amy Broadhurst took home bronze and gold from the European Elites and European U22s respectively.

Dublin’s Drimnagh BC and the Olympic BC in Mullingar shared the Best Club and Best Coaching Staff Awards at the Louis Fitzgerald Hotel last night.