BIG TIME boxing hits Waterford on Saturday, December 7, as Tyrone McKenna and Dylan Moran headline a bumper 16-fight card. That number might gently diminish as the week rolls on, but hopefully, most of the main protagonists get a runout. It’s been a while since a show of this magnitude has rolled into the unconventional fight regions of the island.
Backed by state broadcaster RTE, Brian Peters previously ventured out of the main hubs of Belfast and Dublin, delivering fights in Magherafelt and Letterkenny for Paul McCloskey, Limerick for Andy Lee and Willie Casey and a mini countrywide tour of Bernard Dunne as he rehabilitated post-Kiko.
Since then, due mostly to non-boxing concerts, highlighted by the reluctance of the Boxing Union of Ireland to play ball for a period while matters were sorted out, shows south of the border have been at a premium.
Back in Waterford’s SETU Arena, consistently teetering on the edge of retirement, Tyrone McKenna keeps getting dragged back for “one last job”. Dylan Moran is a nice guy who has bounced back from hard losses to Denis Okoth and Florian Marku. Trudging the rings of Austria, Germany, the US and the UK, Moran’s last outing was a confidence-building smashing of Owen O’Neill. The last time Waterford hosted a solid boxing event, Moran beat Argentinian Mauro Godoy by stoppage.
Now he faces McKenna, who has lost three of his last four, two by stoppage, including a recent rematch with Mohamed Mimoune. Conlan Boxing has teamed up with Florida-based outfit Pro Box TV to deliver these Irish shows.
The first took place in Belfast on November 1 and included a sterling main event slugfest between Padraig McCrory and Colombia’s Leonard Castillo. If McKenna and Moran can recreate something similar it will be a night to remember.
“With the event it’s going to be I was thinking me versus Tyrone McKenna is the only fight worthy of it. The fans are going to be the real winners here,” buzzed Moran, who once travelled the world as a kickboxer.
“I’ve the utmost respect for Tyrone McKenna, he’s an Irish boxing legend and it would be an honour to share the ring with him. What better place to do it than Waterford? I’ve always said I want to bring big fights and there is no bigger one than me and Tyrone. We know what Tyrone brings, I know what I bring, and the fans are going to be the real winners.”
