MTK Global fighter withdraws from Ireland’s Last Man Standing

After speculation over the past two weeks, Alfredo Meli [14(3)-0-1] has withdrawn from the upcoming big-money Ireland’s Last Man Standing tournament.

The Belfast middleweight was due to be one of eight fighters competing in the single-elimination Prizefighter-style tournament at the National Stadium in Dublin on Saturday March 3rd – however he has pulled out in solidarity with his management outfit.

Meli, along with over 30 other Irish fighters, is managed by Mack The Knife Global. The company recently announced a boycott of all Republic of Ireland media and, along with this, stated their intention to cease signing fighters from the 26 counties and that their existing Republic of Ireland fighters would no longer feature on Boxing Union of Ireland shows.

The status of Immaculata’s Meli was unknown as he had already been announced as one of the eight competitors for Last Man Standing last month and had been in training for the 3x3x3 tournament.

Unfortunately, it was this morning confirmed by his father, Alfredo Sr, that Meli would no longer be entering the high-profile event.

Meli stated that “on behalf of my son, Alfredo ‘Fredo’ Meli, we are withdrawn from Last Man Standing in support of MTK and their boxers.”

The 27-year-old southpaw signed with MTK in late 2016 and has scored three six-round points wins since then.

When asked for comment, Assassin Boxing, co-promoters of the event, acknowledged the withdrawal and confirmed that “we have a solution in place that we will have all finalised in the next 24 hours.”

The seven remaining fighters currently are Bernard Roe, Roy Sheahan, Chris Blaney, Sean McGlinchey, Nick Quigley, Jordan Latimer, and Gerard Healy.

There is a prize pool of €59,000 on offer for the Assassin and Red Corner event, which will be shown live on Irish terrestrial television via TG4.