Irish trio secure big fights on Glasgow BoxNation card

A trio of Irish fighters have secure big fights in Scotland with world rankings on the line.

Mullingar super feather David Oliver Joyce [7(6)-0], Clondalkin lightweight Stephen Ormond [25(13)-5(1)], and Blanchardstown light welter Darragh Foley [15(8)-2(0)] will box in the three main bouts at the Glasgow Emirates Arena, live on BoxNation, on Friday August 24th.

Headlining the bill will be Rio Olympian Joyce who takes on Belfast-based Dundee entertainer Ronnie Clark [21(10)-4(1)-2].

On the fast-track, Joyce stepped up last time out with a stoppage win over Jordan Ellison in Belfast and the 31-year-old makes a major jump up in class here.

Managed by Mark Dunlop, Clark scored one of the biggest, odds-wise, upsets of the year in February, dropping and outpointing Zelfa Barrett for the IBF European title which he will put on the line here.

Another looking to defeat a Scot in Scotland, Foley will be fighting for the first time in this hemisphere and the Sydney-based fighter will do so against an extremely familiar name in Willie Limond [40(12)-5(4)].

The 39-year-old Scot has been a pro almost two decades. Starting out 18 unbeaten, including a win over Choi Tseveenpurev, he was stopped in the eighth round by Alex Arthur for the British super featherweight title in 2003. He rebult and won and defended the European Union title in 2004 before outpointing Ireland’s Kevin O’Hara in a war for the Celtic title in 2005.

Stepping up in weight he won the Commonwealth title before losing it to one Amir Kham – who he knocked down in the sixth before being stopped himself in the eighth. Further losses came to the legendary Erik Morales by sixth-round stoppage in 2010 and versus future World champion Anthony Crolla for the British lightweight title in 2011. Moving up in weight again, the evergreen Limond won the Commonwealth light welterweight title in 2013 defending and then unifying with the British belt versus Curtis Woodhouse the following year.

Following a stop-start few years and a British title defeat to Tyrone Nurse, Limond retired in 2016 but has been roused out of retirement by MTK Global and the massive-punching Foley will be his first fight back..

Foley is ranked sixth in the world with the WBA and fifteenth with the WBO following his world title eliminator win over Steven Wilcox on St Parick’s Day which saw him add the WBA NABA title to the WBA Oceania belt.

Currently training in Boston alongside upcoming world title challenger TJ Doheny, ‘Super’ Foley has had words for his Irish rivals in the pas and will take his first steps into the British and Irish mix here.

Finally there is Ormond who faces Ghanaian George Ashie [28(20)-4(0)-1].

A former African and Commonwealth champion who fans may remember from his competitive Commonwealth title clash with Kevin Mitchell over a decade ago, Ashie is a new managerial stablemate of Ormond. Extremely inactive in recent years, fighting just five times since 2013, Ashie is on a run of five wins against decent African opposition.

35-year-old Ormond is keen for one more tilt at the big time and, following a comeback win over Nelson Altamirano last month, he is looking to set himself up for this against a fighter ranked #14 with the WBO.

Also featuring on the undercard will be Scots David Brophy, Kieran Smith, Stephen Tiffney, Tommy Philbin, Chris Wood and Aiden McGlynn.

The show is the first of the 12-card deal between MTK Global and BoxNation TV.