04.01.06 – An excellent night of boxing in Dublin on January 28th has just got better with the addition of Atlanta Olympian and former IBO Champion, Brian Magee to the card. The Belfast super middleweight is facing the biggest year of his career and he wants to kick it off in style with a win at the National Stadium. Magee is pencilled in for a shot at British and Commonwealth champion Carl “The Cobra” Froch at the Kings Hall in March so he can’t afford any slip-ups in Dublin..
Promoter Brian Peters is delighted to bring Magee back to Dublin for his second successive fight at the National Stadium. “Brian was one of the best amateurs to ever grace the ring at the Stadium and I know he loved fighting there for the first time as a pro on my last show in October. He had an impressive stoppage win that night and he’ll be looking to do the same on this next show because he has a huge fight with Carl Froch on the horizon.”
In his last outing Magee bounced back from the disappointment of a controversial split decision points loss for the European title to stop tough Armenian Varuzhan Davtyan in just two rounds.
He’ll be looking for a similar result on his return to Dublin to set him up for his showdown with Froch. The Nottingham man is tipped by many to be the heir apparent to Joe Calzaghe but Magee has other ideas and is confident that he can capture the unbeaten champion’s titles in front of the Kings Hall fans. An opponent for Magee will be confirmed shortly.
Belfast will be well represented on the Stadium fight night with Kevin O’ Hara and Stephen Haughian joining Magee on the card. Both fight out of John Breen’s prolific Belfast gym although Haughian is originally from Lurgan.
O’ Hara has been matched with tough Englishman Henry Castle in what looks to be a candidate for fight of the night. Both men have almost identical records with eleven wins a piece and only a handful of defeats between them.
O’ Hara wants to step back into title contention again in 2006 but so does Castle and both men will be desperate to get their year off to a winning start. It’s a real 50 – 50 matchup and for the victor it will represent a career best win.
Haughian has been learning his trade quietly since turning pro in March of last year. Leading Irish Pros Jim Rock and Eamonn Magee have already tipped him as a star of the future. The Armagh man is still only a teenager but has already racked up three straight wins in the pro game and will be looking for win number four in Dublin.
The card will be headlined by hometown hero Bernard Dunne while the chief support bout features a mouth watering Irish Lightweight title fight between Michael Gomez and Peter McDonagh. Dublin heavyweight Colin Kenna also features.
Tickets priced €50, €75 and €100 are available from Ticketmaster on the web at TicketMaster.ie or over the phone on 0818 719300.
Saturday 28th of January, 2006
National Stadium, Dublin
Bernard Dunne featuring in an International 10 Round Super Bantamweight Contest
Special Attraction, 10 Rounds for the Irish Lightweight Title – Michael Gomez V Peter McDonagh
Super Middleweight, 8 Round bout featuring Brian Magee
Heavyweight, 8 Round bout featuring Colin Kenna
Super Featherweight, 8 Round bout featuring Kevin O’ Hara
And Stephen Haughian featuring in a 4 Round, Light Welterweight Contest..