It’s Cork v Dublin for the Irish title- boxing in the Rebel County back with a bang
The first professional boxing show to grace Cork in over a decade will be topped by a Cork v Dublin Irish title fight.
New-to-the-game promoter Martin Horgan confirmed he will run ‘Leeside Revolution’ at the Neptune Stadium on Saturday July 20th as boxing makes a long over due return to the Rebel County.
It was also confirmed that the bill will be headlined by Macroom light welter Noel Murphy , who manager Kevin Crowley revealed would like to challenge for the vacant Irish title on his homecoming.
That revelation peaked the interest of a number of Irish welters with Keane McMahon and Jay Byrne telling Irish-boxing.com they both want the fight.
‘The Negotiator’ Byrne went as far as to reveal he would be left ‘angered’ if he didn’t get to challenge for the welterweight title he has been pursuing for over 18 months.
However, the BBBofC fighter can keep his cool as he was today confirmed as the fighter who will man the away corner as the New York based puncher returns home in two months time.
Murphy and former Irish light middleweight title challenger, Byrne will fight for the vacant Irish welterweight crown.
Southpaw Murphy goes into the clash on the back of a Boston win over Lucan native John Joyce, while Byrne’s most recent wins have come in Scotland- a BBBofC title win and defence against Marc Kerr and Stefan Sanderson respectively.
The make up of the undercard has yet to be confirmed, but there is talk Limerick’s Graham McCormack may appear and the likes of Vladimir Belujsky, Tommy McCarthy, and Dean O’Connell would all be hopeful of spots. Mike Perez and Spike O’Sullivan both have bigger things on the agenda, currently.
The last pro show to take place in Cork was ran by Brian Peters way back in June 2010 and featured O’Sullivan, Perez, WIllie Casey, Alexei Collado, Luis Garcia, and Andy Murray.
In 2018 boxing outside of Dublin and Belfast proved extremely successful, with atmospheric shows with huge local support taking place in Castlebar and Waterford – and a comeback card in Ireland’s third-biggest city has always been hoped for.
