Big Belfast Bill CONFIRMED for next month
A major card has been confirmed for Belfast next month.
It has been announced that Mack The Knife Global will run another big bill at the Ulster Hall on Friday May 17th following on from the Luke Keeler v Conrad Cummings rematch at the same venue last month.
The card will feature an all-Irish clash between super featherweights Marco McCullough and Declan Geraghty, with the IBF European minor rankings title on the line.
The card will be shown live via the iFL TV YouTube channel and in America on the ESPN+ app.
No further details have been revealed but a major addition has been promised which, going by recent reports, will be that former unified bantamweight champion Ryan Burnett will be headlining the bill in his first fight back from injury.
MTK Global Professional Development Co-ordinator Jamie Conlan said that “this is fantastic news for MTK Global, for ESPN+, for iFL TV and for the city of Belfast.”
“We saw in the Cummings vs. Keeler fight the special atmosphere that Ulster Hall can produce. It really is like no other boxing venue and ESPN+ subscribers are in for a real treat on the night.”
“The opening ESPN+ show in Dubai was a success and featured some fantastic performances. We’ll be looking to build on that back in Belfast and I’m so proud another historic fight night is coming to my home city.”
“In Marco against Deco, you have a genuine 50-50 title fight and I think we’ll see (and hear) a similar cauldron-like environment to the one we witnessed with Cummings vs. Keeler.”
“A title battle between north and south never disappoints and I know we have some more huge fights to announce on the card. Boxing fans should get their tickets early and stay tuned.”
McCullough [21(11)-4(3)] will be returning to the ring for the first time since his thrilling IBO International title win over Ruddy Encarnacion at the Titanic Centre last October.
The Shankill fighter had proposed a push towards the IBO title and current champ Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov but will instead engage in some domestic warfare here.
Geraghty [18(4)-3(2)] had been signed to fight McCullough back in October but was forced out of the match-up. He would state his desire for a re-fixed date and will get his opportunity on May 17th.
The IBF European title was formerly held by recent world title challenger and two-time Geraghty opponent Jono Carroll – who was also due to face McCullough last year.
A minor belt, the victor is unlikely to be added to the IBF Top 15, with an improved place in the IBF Inter-Continental rankings [McCullough is currently #7, Geraghty #13] the likeliest result
Further undercard fighters will be confirmed shortly, although Naas lightweight starlet Gary Cully [8(4)-0] has already indicated that he will box for the BUI Celtic title against Welsh opposition on the bill
The latest edition of the #MTKFightNight series will kick off a big weekend for the capital of Irish boxing with MHD Promotions running ‘Summer Brawl’ at the Europa Hotel the following night [Saturday May 18th].
In addition, Boxing Ireland Promotions will run ‘Celtic Clash 8’ in Belfast on a to-be-confirmed date also around this time.
