SIMPLY THE BEST
Moylette has a special feeling ahead of homecoming bout
RAY MOYLETTE admits that it is ‘a special feeling’ to be headlining a fight card in Castlebar and he believes that tonight can herald a new start for the professional boxing scene in Ireland as it looks to rebuild itself.
Undefeated in his first 11 professional bouts, the Islandeady native will face Mexico’s Christian Uruzquieta this evening for the WBC international lightweight belt and there’s a real sense that the ‘homecoming’ card in Castlebar’s Royal Theatre can be a new beginning for the pro game in this country.
That boxing has taken a battering over the past decade can be put down to the effects of the recession and the damage done by the shooting during a pro-card weigh-in at the Regency Hotel in February 2016.
TG4 are broadcasting the event live tonight and this is a significant move. The Irish boxing scene has been starved of terrestrial television coverage since Bernard Dunne hung up the gloves. More than most sports, boxing has a symbiotic relationship with broadcasting. It has been true since the early days of television, and even before. (One of the first things Thomas Edison filmed on his kineograph machine was a Jim Corbett exhibition bout.)
Before TG4 broadcast the ‘Last Man Standing’ event from the National Stadium in March, it had been seven years since a professional card was on one of the free-to-air channels — and even that was embroiled in controversy as only a generous contribution from an anonymous businessman to cover costs allowed Willie ‘Big Bang’ Casey’s world title shot against Guillermo Rigondeaux to go out on RTÉ2.
There appears to be a reluctance from the national broadcaster to dip their toes into boxing. They did show highlights of Michael Conlan’s first two pro bouts but this was down to a stipulation in his contract with Top Rank that allowed for Irish TV coverage. Indeed, even though Dunne would subsequently turn into a sure-fire ratings winner, the rights for his first bout back in Dublin in 2005 were given free to RTÉ.
There’s genuine excitement that TG4 have come on board. As have proven with their excellent coverage of the GAA club Championships, they tend to do sports broadcasting well. Viewers will be treated to a star-studded line-up of analysts this evening, including former world champion Ryan Burnett, current NABF middleweight champion Jason Quigley, former Ireland Olympic team captain Darren O’Neill and Sean Mannion, the former middleweight contender from Ros Múc.
The talent behind the microphone nearly outshines that in the ring, although the undercard is stacked with some of the most exciting fighters in Ireland.
Gary ‘Spike’ O’Sullivan will hope to bounce back from losing his world middleweight title eliminator to David Lemieux, stepping down to light-middleweight in his first bout on these shores in four years.
Irish middleweight champion Craig O’Brien will also feature, as will Luis Garcia, the gifted Cuban light-heavyweight who has been out of action for three years because of contractual disputes.
‘The professional scene has taken a bit of a dip over the past ten years, probably since the days of Bernard Dunne and Andy Lee,’ Moylette admitted. ‘When the recession hit, this form of entertainment was one of those badly hit. But this is probably the best card there has been in the Republic in more than 10 years. To be headlining it in my hometown is a special feeling.’
And Moylette does feel that the Assassin Boxing-promoted card can be a fresh start for the sport. ‘We want to bring big-time boxing back. This is only a small part of that, but hopefully it will show the appetite is there for boxing.’
As for the bout itself, a win would propel the former European amateur champion up the rankings. ‘If I win this, I will automatically get inside the top 15 for the WBC, so I will be on the ladder. Now, it’s a pretty tall ladder, but at least I will be on a rung of it,’ the affable Mayo man smiled.
•TG4 will broadcast live coverage of the homecoming card from Castlebar’s Royal Theatre from 8.30pm tonight
“This is the best card in Ireland for 10 years”