DEVASTATING – Another pro show cancelled as ‘He Who Dares’ is pulled

The ‘He Who Dares’ card set for the Devenish Complex and October 25 has been cancelled.

Mickey Helliet and Slater Sports were set to bring a packed card to the Belfast venue later this month, but late Friday night confirmed they had to pull the plug.

The promoters have blamed circumstances beyond their control for the reason behind the disappointing news.

“We are devastated for the boxers who have been left affected but this was simply out of our control,” Slater Sports confirmed online.

Irish-boxing.com understands both Helliet and Slater were happy with how the show was progressing and were keen run on the advertised date.

By all accounts there was no issue with the line up, ticket sales, the venue or the fact MTK and Boxing Ireland run shows in Belfast as close as two weeks before.

Rather rumour suggests the issue arises at a governance level and board ratification.

Regardless, the bottom line is another proposed show has not come to fruition and a host of Irish boxers are again left without work.

Most aggrieved will be Cathy McAleer, who was set to top the bill in a historic Commonwealth title fight.

However, for the third time this Summer the John Breen trained fighter will see a headline title fight fall through.

Dylan Moran is another who will feel extremely hard done by. The Waterford fighter seen a fight cancelled nigh on minutes before he was set to walk to the ring in Mexico last month – and will now have to deal with another cancellation. The ‘Real Deal’ has been waiting since July to put his sole career defeat behind him.

Craig O’Brien is another who suffers a second cancellation in a space of a few months and will be upset to lose his chance to impress against the game Owen Jobburn.

Darren O’Neill will have to wait to make his debut and gets a realistic introduction to pro life in Ireland. Eric Donovan misses the chance to build on the impressive first half of the 2019 he had.

Cillian Reardon also misses the chance to register a step up win, while the likes of Katelynn Phelan, Victor Rabei and Paul Hyland Jr all see fights fall through.

It’s a massive blow to all the fighters involved and those not aligned to MTK, MHD or Boxing Ireland will wonder if they will have to travel to fight.