BOSTON (March 14, 2011) – Standing face-to-face for the first time since trading barbs through the media, Joe Gardner and “Irish” Joey McCreedy certainly didn’t seem like the mortal enemies they made themselves out to be, but don’t believe for a second the rivalry has died down.
“We’re not the greatest friends in the world,” Gardner said Tuesday in anticipation of his title defense Wednesday night against McCreedy at The Royale in Boston, “but we’re both great competitors and great fighters. I plan on still being the champion [Wednesday] and bringing the belt back to Woonsocket.”
Gardner (7-1-1, 1 KO), of Woonsocket, R.I., will be making the first defense of his New England light heavyweight title Wednesday, March 16th, 2011 in the eight-round main event of “Boxing At The Royale,” presented by Jimmy Burchfield’s Classic Entertainment & Sports. Showtime is 7 p.m.
McCreedy (11-5-2, 6 KOs), the challenger from Lowell, Mass., is looking to rebound from a July 9 loss to Providence’s Vladine Biosse on national television – his second loss in three fights.
“This fight is basically in my backyard, and I’m not going to let my people down,” McCreedy said. “The best man will win. I respect him. He’s a great fighter. [Wednesday] we’ll do our talking in the ring.”
McCreedy’s teammate from Lowell, Sean Eklund (8-4, 1 KO), will be on the opposite side of the spectrum Wednesday attempting to defend his Eastern Boxing Association (EBA) welterweight title against Eddie “The Puerto Rican Sensation” Soto (12-2, 4 KOs) of Pawtucket, R.I., in the six-round co-feature.
Eklund and Soto are familiar foes; they’ve fought twice since February of 2009 – splitting the first two bouts – and will look to settle the score once and for all Wednesday.
“This is the rubber match,” said Soto, who lost the belt to Eklund last March. “We’re going to finish this [Wednesday]. This will be an explosive fight.”
“I did feel as though I won the first fight,” added Eklund, who is trained by his uncles Micky Ward and Dicky Eklund, “but he has the victory on paper. He’s a respectful guy. The last guy I fought was a punk, to be honest with you, and if Eddie wasn’t respectful, I probably wouldn’t have given him this shot.”
“Boxing At The Royale” also features a four-round intrastate showdown between junior middleweight Derek Silveira (3-0, 2 KOs) of Salem, Mass., and Jose Angel Ortiz (3-6-1) of Springfield. In separate, four-round bouts, female welterweight Aleksandra Magdziak Lopes (4-1, 1 KO) of Marshfield will face Ashley Hair (1-0, 1 KO) of South Bend, Ind.; New Bedford junior welterweight Johnathan Vazquez (3-0, 3 KOs) will take on Bryan Abraham (2-5-2, 2 KOs) of Schenectady, N.Y.; and lightweight Danny Powers (1-0, 1 KO) of Claremont, N.H., faces Fred Mandracchia of Weymouth, Mass., in Mandracchia’s pro debut.
All $50 and $75 tickets for “Boxing At The Royale,” located at 279 Tremont Street in Boston, are currently sold out, but general-admission tickets priced at $40 are still available and can be purchased by calling CES at 401.724.2253/2254 or online at www.cesboxing.com. For more information on “Boxing At The Royale,” visit www.cesboxing.com or www.royaleboston.com.