?THE Ulster Council has been urged to afford all young boxers the same opportunity to qualify for next year’s Commonwealth Games, following a last-minute change to the entry criteria for the upcoming Ulster Elite Championships.

BRETT McGinty has been Ireland's busiest fighter this year and he intends to end a fruitful first 12 months as a professional by extending his record to 5-0 in London next month.

PROMOTER Mick Hennessy’s plan for Monaghan matadors Stevie and Aaron McKenna is quite straightforward: he intends to make them “absolute superstars” of boxing.

THOUGHTS of turning pro did come into Michaela Walsh’s head both before and after Tokyo – but the hurt of leaving Japan without the medal she came for is driving the west Belfast woman towards another Olympic crack in three years’ time.

JASON Quigley’s challenge for the WBO middleweight title ended in disappointment when he was stopped by Demetrius Andrade with 24 seconds remaining in the second round in Manchester, New Hampshire.

THE last minute of the seventh round of his catch-weight bout with Canelo Alvares was Floyd Mayweather at the absolute peak of his powers.

THE president of the Ulster Boxing Council has defended encouraging members to back the current officer board of the Irish Athletic Boxing Association (IABA), amid a bitter split within the association.

JASON Quigley promised to give Demetrius Andrade “one hell of a fight” when he called the WBO middleweight champion out after his thrilling victory over Shane Mosley junior in May.

SOMETHING “will get broken” on Saturday night but it won’t be his 30-fight winning streak, claimed Demetrius ‘BooBoo’ Andrade ahead of his WBO middleweight title defence against Donegal’s Jason Quigley in Manchester, New Hampshire.

VICTORY for Jason Quigley in Saturday night’s WBO middleweight title rumble against champion Demetrius Andrade would rank high in the list of overseas for the fighting Irish.

CONFIRMATION that next month’s World Championships has been postponed until March might have come as a blow to most Turkey-bound boxers – but for Kellie Harrington the news was “a blessing in disguise”.

OLYMPIC champion Kellie Harrington has given her backing to Irish high performance director Bernard Dunne - and hopes the former world champion stays put for the foreseeable future.

WBO middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade says he’ll “make quick work of (Jason) Quigley” when he faces the Donegal contender on November 19.

IT has been the worst kept secret in Irish boxing since the summer – and now Kurt Walker has set his sights on a rematch with Olympic rival Duke Ragan after finally confirming his move into the professional ranks yesterday.

THE transition to the professional game can take time for those who have campaigned at elite amateur level for years – but Kurt Walker is confident new coach Adam Booth can help bring out the best in him.

MICHAEL Conlan says he’ll have an answer for every question Leigh Wood asks when they do battle for the Englishman’s WBO featherweight title next year.

OUTSIDE of the 2004 grudge match between snooker stars Quinten Hann and Mark King, boxing and the green baize have rarely been regular sparring partners – but Ballymena’s Rory Kinney hopes to break the mould after beginning his fledgling ring career with a bang.

World Boxing Council International Silver Super-middleweight title: Padraig McCrory (12-0) v Celso Neves (8-1-1) (tonight, Ulster Hall, live on iFL TV) PADRAIG McCrory dreamt of topping a bill on day and he gets his chance tonight when he defends his WBC International super-middleweight title against tricky Spaniard Celso Neves.

BEFORE leaving for Japan back in June, Brendan Irvine already had one eye on life beyond boxing – and now the two-time Olympian is helping educate future generations in the sport after becoming a community coach with the Irish Athletic Boxing Association (IABA).