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Davey Oliver Joyce to headline ESPN card in Dubai


Davey Oliver Joyce [9(7)-0] was meant to have his first real breakthrough fight tonight.

The Mullingar fighter was due to face skilful Scot Stephen Tiffney for the vacant WBO European featherweight title at the Bowlers Exhibition Centre in Manchester.

However, with multiple fights falling off the card, the entire event was pulled this week.

Thankfully a new date for 32-year-old Joyce has been secured and it looks to be a far, far bigger opportunity.

It has been confirmed tonight that Joyce v Tiffney will co-headline an MTK Global bill in Dubai on Friday April 5th.

The fight card at the Emirates Golf Club will be the first show under the Top Rank and MTK partnership which was announced earlier this week and will be aired live in America on ESPN+.

The fights will be simultaneously streamed on YouTube for Irish fans.

Rio Olympian Joyce turned pro back in 2017 and raced through his early fights.

His progression stalled in 2018 when multiple big fights fell through but the Pete Taylor-trained ‘Punisher’ will look to kick on from Tiffney – with a win likely to secure him a spot in the WBO rankings currently headed by Oscar Valdez.

30-year-old Tiffney [10(4)-1(0)] was on an impressive run before a shock Scottish title defeat to Lewis Paulin in 2017.

Co-headlining the bill in the United Arab Emirates three weeks’ time is a WBC International super flyweight title fight between Aliu Lasisi and Keyvin Lara, with a cosmopolitan undercard featuring Zuhayr Al Qahtani, Shakhobidin Zoirov, Joyce’s old amateur rival Hurshid Tojibaev, Sultan Zaurbek, Yuancai Zhu, Mateo Tapia, Larry Abarra, Anahit Aroyan, and Hasibullah Ahmadi.

Photo Credit: Ricardo Guglielminotti – The Fighting Irish (@ThefIrish)

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Joe O'Neill

Reporting on Irish boxing the past five years. Work has appeared on irish-boxing.com, Boxing News, the42.ie, and local and national media. Provide live ringside updates, occasional interviews, and special features on the future of Irish boxing. email: joneill6@tcd.ie

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