What do you get when you combine three undefeated Cuban sensations with three of Irish boxing’s most exciting and promising talents? You get a combined record of 63 wins (43 KO’s) and no losses and all six fighters will take to the ring in Cork on June 26th on the Yanjing Beer Fight Night at The Neptune Stadium. Cork based Cuban’s Alexei Acosta (10-0 with 10 KO’s), Luis Garcia, (6-0 with 4 KO’s) and Mike Perez (10-0 with 8 KO’s) will be joined by unbeaten Irish prospects Andy Murray (19-0 with 10 KO’s), Willie “Big Bang” Casey (8-0 with 5 KO’s) and Gary “Spike” O’Sullivan (10-0 with 6 KO’s) on a night of “The Undefeated’s” as all 6 men put their perfect records on the line..
Promoter Brian Peters believes it will be a night not to be missed. “It’s a great lineup and what this event is about is bringing entertaining, fan friendly, value for money nights of boxing to Cork,” said Peters. “You have the three Cubans, all World Junior Champions in the amateur ranks and now outstanding professional prospects. The great thing about them is that they want to base their careers in Cork and bring World titles back to Cork.
“Everyone is going to be glued to their TV’s for the next month with the World Cup but the Cuban’s are to boxing what Brazil are to soccer. They have a natural flair for the sport and anyone who has seen the three guys in action will know that they are all outstanding prospects and real crowd pleasers.
“Patrick Thomas has established a world class training setup for them in Cork and they have all the resources they need to fulfill their potential and I’m delighted to be working with them.”
There will be no shortage of Irish talent on display either with three of Ireland’s finest in action with reigning Irish Champ and European number 3 Andy Murray featuring alongside recent Prizefighter winner Willie “Big Bang” Casey and Cork’s own reigning Irish Middleweight Champ, Gary “Spike” O’Sullivan.
Cavan native Murray is on the verge of a European title shot and Peters is determined to give him as much ring time as possible ahead of a possible title fight with his namesake and defending European Champion, John Murray of Manchester.
“Andy’s probably one of the busiest pro’s around right now,” said Peters. “He fought in Limerick a few weeks back, he fights in Belfast on Friday night and he’s also scheduled for Cork. That will be 3 fights in 6 weeks so it’s a busy schedule but boxer’s thrive on continuity and fighting regularly like this will give Andy the experience he’ll need before fighting for a European title.”
Peters is also delighted to have Limerick’s Willie “Big Bang” Casey on the card fresh from his recent Prizefighter success in London. “Willie has taken chances with his career of late and those chances have paid off in spades for him,” said Peters. “Phil Sutcliffe and Don O’Leary have done a great job with him. He went to Canada to knockout the Canadian Champion and hand him his first defeat and then he went into the Prizefighter event as a real dark horse and blitzed his way through to win it.”
Another man with major title ambitions on the card is Cork’s own Gary “Spike” O’Sullivan. The Mahon native lifted the Irish Middleweight title with a win over Ciaran Healy in December to extend his unbeaten run to 10 straight wins and he will get another opportunity to showcase his skills in front of his hometown fans at the Neptune Stadium.
Tickets for the Yanjing Beer Fight Night priced €25 & €50 are available from Ticketmaster, all Mahers Sports Outlets, Neptune Stadum 021 4395873, The Wilton Pub 021 4344454, Patrick Thomas 087 9393586, Gary O’Sullivan 085 1789544 and Willie Casey 086 3136925.
Yanjing Beer Fight Night: Garcia looking to turn in a performance fit for a King
Unbeaten Cuban sensation Luis Garcia will be out to impress at The King’s Hall on Friday night when he clashes with Welsh hard man Nathan King on the undercard of Paul McCloskey’s first European title defence on the Yanjing Beer Fight Night.
The Cork based Garcia has stepped in at short notice for compatriot Alexei Acosta who had to withdraw from the bill through illness. The 22-year-old Garcia a former World Junior Champion in the amateur ranks has won all 6 of his pro fights to date and has been earmarked by many boxing insiders as a special talent with the potential to become a major star in the pro ranks.
The King’s Hall is no stranger to hosting the finest talent from Latin and South America with World Champions such as Sergio Martinez (Argentina), Julio Cesar Vasquez (Argentina)(Argentina), Crisanto Espana (Venezuela) and Victor Cordoba (Panama) all having stepped between the ropes in the Belfast venue and Garcia says he hopes to continue that proud tradition.
“I know all about the famous history at The King’s Hall and the great nights and great fights that it has hosted over the years so it’s an honour for me to be part of another big night of boxing there on Friday night. Hopefully I can put on a show for the people there.”
Garcia won’t have it easy though against King who has given tough tests to British Olympic medallists James Degale and Tony Jeffries in his two most recent outings. King would eventually lose of points in both fights but gave the highly touted prospects plenty to think about along the way.
Promoter Brian Peters admits it’s a decent test for Garcia but it’s one he expects him to pass with flying colours. “Luis is an exceptional talent,” said Peters. “He put on a masterclass of boxing against a seasoned veteran in the shape of Alex Sipos last time out in Limerick. It was only Luis’ sixth pro fight but he dominated a former European title challenger and Sipos never gives anyone an easy night.
“King is cut from the same mould as Sipos. He made Tony Jeffries look pretty ordinary last time out and he also gave Degale a few problems so it will be interesting to see how Luis deals with him on Friday.”
Paul McCloskey’s first defence of his European Light Welterweight title against mandatory challenger Giuseppe Lauri tops the bill at The King’s Hall while in the chief support bout Lurgan’s Stephen Haughian clashes with former British Champ Kevin McIntyre for the Celtic Welterweight title.
Cavan’s Andy Murray also features as the undefeated European number 3 looks to take another step close to a European title fight with namesake, John Murray. Barry McGuigan’s protege Carl Frampton will have his first professional fight in his native city while fellow unbeaten Belfast prospect Jamie Conlan also features.
Local middleweight duo Joe Rea and Ciaran Healy have also been added to the card with the pair looking to end the unbeaten records of Kris Carslaw and Harry Matthews respectively.
Yanjing Beer Fight Night: Clones Cyclone McGuigan backing Frampton to create a storm
A quarter of a century on from winning his World title Irish boxing legend Barry McGuigan believes he has unearthed a new star in the shape of Belfast’s Carl Frampton. The unbeaten Super Bantamweight has won all 5 of his pro fights to date and will fight in his hometown for the first time as a professional this Friday night at The King’s Hall on the Yanjing Beer Fight Night 25 years to the week of McGuigan’s famous World Featherweight title win over Eusebio Pedroza.
Paul McCloskey’s first defence of his European Light Welterweight title against mandatory challenger Giuseppe Lauri tops the bill at The King’s Hall and McGuigan believes it won’t be too long more before Frampton is headlining at the famous old venue himself.
McGuigan manages the 23-year-old and he believes he can follow in his footsteps by enjoying some big nights at The King’s Hall starting with this Friday night when he takes on Londoner Ian Bailey. gWalking into The King’s Hall will bring back an awful lot of happy memories for me and it will fill me with excitement for the future too and the possibilities for Carl,h said McGuigan. gThis is a great opportunity for Carl to fight in front of his own fans and show the Belfast people what he’s capable of on his King’s Hall debut,h said McGuigan.
gBailey is a tough guy, he’s aggressive and comes to fight. He handed the Ingle’s prospect Steve Barnes his first defeat recently so Carl’s won’t be taking anything for granted. Bailey likes to stand in front of a guy and trade so I think the two styles are really going to gel and it could be a very exciting fight for as long as it lasts.h
McGuigan believes that Friday could be the first of a series of exciting nights for Belfast fight fans as Frampton looks to replicate the gClones Cyclone’sh meteoric rise through the boxing world in the mid 80’s.
gThere is no doubt in my mind that Carl can go the whole way,h asserted McGuigan. gHe has all the potential in the world and when I compare him to where I was at the same stage of my pro career it frightens me just how good he is. Irish boxing is blessed at the moment to have some very good fighters but I believe that Carl will prove to be the pick of the bunch. He has the X-factor that you need to succeed at the highest level.
He’s just spent 10 days over with me in England sparring with the likes of Ian Napa, Choi Tseveenpurev and Bradley Evans and it was excellent work for him and that kind of sparring is vital to any young professionals progression.
gHe’s an old head on young shoulders, he’s very cool and composed in the ring and he’s confident and assured without being arrogant. He can hit with either hand and although he’s very aggressive he can box off the back foot as well if needs be.h
The main event at the King’s Hall sees Paul McCloskey making the first defence of his European Light Welterweight title against Giuseppe Lauri while Stephen Haughian clashes with Kevin McIntyre for the Celtic Welterweight title in a second title fight on the bill. Cavan’s Andy Murray also features as the undefeated European number 3 looks to take another step close to a European title fight with namesake, John Murray.
Another exciting new talent out to extend his unbeaten record at the King’s Hall will be flyweight Jamie Conlan while Cuban sensation Alexei Acosta will also feature as he looks to continue a incredible knockout streak that has seen him stop all 10 of his professional opponents to date. Acosta, a World Junior Champion in the amateur ranks is now based in Cork having turned professional in 2008. Local middleweight duo Joe Rea and Ciaran Healy have also been added to the card with the pair looking to end the unbeaten records of Kris Carslaw and Harry Matthews respectively.
The Yanjing Beer Fight Night will be live on Sky Sports and tickets priced ’30, ’60 and ’90 are available from Ticketmaster and all usual outlets. Contact Ticketmaster 0844 8472455 (0818 719300 from ROI), Box Office 01277 359900, Julie 07745698372, Francie 07803282224.