Shows planned for Belfast and Dublin plus Irish News

Team Alio and Belfast Promotions are running a show in Belfast on 8^th May in the Holiday Inn. Tickets will be available at £30 each as Alan and Jane Wilton return to the venue that housed a similar event last November, when Cuban bantamweight Alexei Acosta topped the bill against Sean Hughes.

 

Some familiar faces will be on show including flyweight prospect Luke Wilton (pictured) who will most likely contest an eight-rounder which will then make him eligible for the Irish title. One-fight novice Phil Townley (who made his pro debut last year against Joe Rea in the Odyssey) also features, alongside Ballymena’s Niall Diamond and rookie Michael Harvey. Paul Keyes and Brian Cussack are both set to make their debuts on the undercard.

 

Dolphil Promotions (run by Don O’Leary and Phil Sutcliffe) are also planning a show in Dublin’s City West on 29^th May. The headliner is expected to be the rubber match between super-middleweights Robbie Long and Irish title holder Anthony Fitzgerald who have gone to war twice already with one win apiece. Limerick featherweight Willie Casey will also be on view provided he first gets through a fight in Canada unscathed. Casey travels over to Toronto in early April to tackle unbeaten Tyson Cave over eight rounds.

 

Back in Dublin and Sutcliffe is hoping to tempt New York-based Arklow man James Moore back to these waters for a fight. Moore has carved out a moderately successful career in the States but is reportedly itching for a bout in Ireland and was scheduled to appear on a Tommy Egan bill which was recently scrapped. Exciting featherweight Gavin Prunty is down for an appearance in City West as is Finbarr Eade. Jamie Power and John Waldron could be included but they may instead feature on a card rumoured for Limerick in early May, topped by Andy Lee.

 

Meanwhile, another Sutcliffe charge, Dublin stalwart Oisin Fagan, has quit the ring to concentrate on his new role with the IABA. Fagan leaves with a respectable 25-8 record and won an Irish title at light-welterweight in 2006 which he rightly views as the proudest moment of a seven-year career that started in Oklahoma in 2003.

 

36-year-old Fagan’s biggest opportunity arrived in 2008 when he was chosen as the sacrificial lamb for Amir Khan as the Olympic silver medallist eased his way back after a potentially devastating defeat to Breidis Prescott. Injured following a heavy fall in the first session, Fagan damaged his leg yet still tried to fight back gamely before being stopped by Amir in the second round. It was a moment he always regretted, live on Pay-Per-View TV the proud Dubliner was unable to show SKY viewers what he was all about.

 

Defeats to Eddie Hyland (in an IBF title cracker in Tallaght) and a debatable stoppage most recently in the National Stadium to Andy Murray no doubt sped up the retirement process. If the ‘Gael Force’ can pass on just a small amount of the professionalism and commitment he showed throughout his own career to the next generation of young prospects, then Irish amateur boxing is in safe hands.

 

A successful defence of the British featherweight title has placed Martin Lindsay in a strong position as he chases European honours. Promoter Frank Maloney suggested before the recent contest in Leigh that a victory would set Martin on course for the EBU crown. Whether that, or a second defence of the Lonsdale belt, occurs next, either bout will take place in Belfast, most likely at the Ulster Hall.

 

“He's fighting in a competitive weight division but his next fight will be in Belfast,” Maloney told Irish-boxing.com. “Whether it will be the British title defence or a fight for the European title, we'll be sorting everything out over the coming weeks but the next one will definitely be in Belfast."