LIMERICK’s Andy Lee and Jamie Power will join fellow Irish boxers for a festival of boxing scheduled for the day before St Patrick’s day in the WaMu Theater at New York’s Madisson Square Gardens. The event is run in conjunction with, Irish Ropes Promotions, an association based in New York that is led by Eddie McLoughlin who himself is a former career Irish boxer.
Joining the 2004 Olympian, Andy Lee and the St Francis club boxer Jamie Power on the Erin Go Brawl II card will be the former WBC bantamweight champion, the “Pocket Rocket” Wayne McCulough. The top two will be joined by many other Irish and Irish American boxers for the event. Lee (16-1, 13 KOs) will headline against 3-time world title challenger Antwun “Kid Dynamite” Echols (31-9-4, 27 KOs) in the 10 round main event. Having left his native Castleconnell following the Olympics in Athens, Lee now fights out of the legendary Kronk Gym in Detroit and is trained by one of the greats in boxing, Emanuel Steward.
Boxing out of Las Vegas, the Belfast born 1992 Olympic silver medalist Wayne McCulough,is yet to have his opponent named but will fight before Lee who boxes in the main event.
‘Erin Go Brawl II’ is going to be a spectacular show,” Irish Ropes president Eddie McLoughlin said. “Andy Lee is headlining and a living legend, Wayne McCullough, is in the co-feature. We have a lot of other exciting young Irish fighters in this card.”
Limerick’s light heavyweight Jamie Power (4-0, 2 KOs) will battle Reggie “Concrete” LaCrete (4-0-2, 3 KOs), from Brooklyn. Crumlin native, Dean “Irish Lightning” Byrne will fight in an 8 round bout with Irish featherweight champion Patrick “Pajo” Hyland of Dublin. Other fighters scheduled to feature are, Galway middleweight “Slick Fightin’ Irish” Simon O’Donnell, county Mayo light middleweight Henry “Western Warrior” Coyle
Speaking at the event launch, Andy Lee said, “March 16, St. Patrick’s Day eve – big fight, big Irish show. There are a lot of good Irish fighters on the show like Hyland and Byrne. I’m honored to be sharing the card with one of my heroes, Wayne McCullough, starting when he was in the Olympics and as a pro. He’s been like a mentor to me, always helping me. It’s like I’m being reintroduced in America. I lost my last fight in America and came back strong in my last fight (in Ireland), knocking out Willie Gibbs. I took some time off last year to het my eye heal, If I win this and a few more I should be in the top 10 and knocking on the door for a world title fight.”
Lee’s trainer, Emanuel Steward noted: “I’m very happy to be here to be part of this show. I always celebrated St. Patrick’s Day Eve in Detroit at O’Halloran’s. But it’s closed, so this year I’m going to stay here an extra day and celebrate with al of the Irish here. There’s a lot of Irish going on and that’s good for boxing. Going back to Wayne, then there was a lull until Andy in 2004 (Olympics). He was the star of Irish boxing. There’s in influx of Irish amateurs – a new generation of Irish fighters – and that’s good for boxing. Andy and John (Duddy) started it coming over here I think that will continue for the next 10 years. Irish fans are the best in the world and they’re spread all over the place. I was raised in an Irish neighborhood. They really support their athletes. It’s going to be a great show in a strong boxing city. In addition to being Andy’s manager and trainer, I like watching him fight. We have three more fights planned after this one and by the end of the year he should be fighting for a world title.”
Quotes courtesy of Boxing News Wire
