Live updates: Rumble In The Hills, Rising Stars in Donegal

The Aura Leisure Complex in Letterkenny hosts Rumble In The Hills, Rising Stars tonight, a show promoted by former world middleweight title challenger Jason Quigley of Sheer Sports – and we will bring you live updates throughout the night.

Refresh to see the latest from Letterkenny. Photos by Joe Boland (North West Newspix)

Callum Bradley v Piotr Gudel 

Callum Bradley wants to enter title territory in the next year – and the Omagh man landed his first stoppage win in Letterkenny to stay firmly on track.

The Omagh super-featherweight put Piotr Gudel to the sword in the headline act at the Rumble In The Hills, Rising Stars card in Letterkenny on Saturday night.

‘Cool’ Bradley is touted as one of Ireland’s hottest prospects and a relentless pursuit of Gudel paid dividends in the fourth round. The bout was stopped 65 seconds into the fourth round, having been slated for six.

Bradley said beforehand he was ‘ready to push on up the ladder’ – and he’s now 8-0.

The crowd were Ole Oleing by the end of the opening verse, by which time referee Padraig O’Reachtagain had counted Gudel twice.

Bradley unloaded the gun shortly after the first and it wasn’t long before Gudel was starry-eyed in the blue corner. 

In the second round, the third man in the ring had two counts, with Gudel kicking a corner pad in a show of frustration.

Bradley, a three-time Irish amateur champion, was using Gudel as target practice for the most part and, under another barrage of punches from Bradley, the Pole heard the familiar digits being counted in the third.

A blistering left by Bradley atop the arm of the until-then dogged Gudel finally broke the resistance. 

Already this year, Bradley had beaten Jake Polland and Darwing Martinez. The 26-year-old overcame Pollard in Bolton in February before claiming a points win over Martinez at the Devenish Complex in Belfast in June.

Rhys Owens v Stefan Nicolae 

Enniskillen super-feather Rhys Owens stopped Stefan Nicolae for a debut win.

Owens, co-managed by Jason Quigley and Jamie Conlan, brought a hoard of fans from Erneside – and they were in raptures after a third round stoppage. 

In the opening round, Nicolae – now 3-64-2 survived when Owens went for broke early

But for the buzz of the bell at the end of the second, Nicolae might not have entered the third – but thanks to a relentless Owens he didn’t get to the end of the third. 

The Romanian was on his hunkers after a tidy clip by Owens, but he managed to get to the stool. Earlier in that round, Owens backed Nicolae into the red corner, but the wily Nicolae was able to emerge.

Owens, while at Erne BC, won the Irish Elite 60kgs title in 2024 and competed at the European U22s and Strandja Memorial in the Irish vest.

Danny Duffy v Ricky Starkey 

Danny Duffy claimed a points win over Ricky Starkey as the Raphoe Boxing Club super-bantamweight maintained his unbeaten record.

Duffy moves to 3-0 after a 40-35 win over Ricky Starkey following an entertaining if sometimes unpleasant four rounds against Ricky Starkey.

“I’m buzzing,” Duffy said. “It’s brilliant. Hopefully I can go again next year here.”

Starkey, complete with a red hand band, had a ring run rather than a ring walk. The Liverpudlian was all energy after the first bell too.

Duffy, though, landed a good right hook in the opening verse and, showing some nifty footwork, arrowed a neat combination, but Starkey hit back on the counter. 

The experienced Starkey, who came in here with a 2-33-2 record, implored Duffy to attack him in the second round of an often messy contest.

Duffy nailed a sharp left hand in the third round that brought the crowd to its feet and ‘Battallion Stallion’ Starkey was briefly dangling between the middle ropes after a tangle.

Ref’ Paul McCullough counted Starkey in the final minute of the third, the visiting fighter voicing his displeasure as the official began to raise his fingers.

Duffy was against the ropes in the fourth, appearing to trip. 

Duffy was the Irish amateur bantamweight champ in 2023, winning senior and Elite titles in the space of a few weeks.

He made his pro debut last December and the 24-year-old was declared the points winner against Jake Pollard in the Devenish in June.

Duffy put Starkey down in the fourth and Duffy took the win.

Eoghan Lavin v Kristaps Zulgis 

Eoghan Lavin pulled off a first round stoppage in a middleweight matchup with Kristaps Zulgis to continue a journey he aims to take him to a World Youth title soon.

The Ballyhaunis man, with coach and former WBA lightweight titlist Anthony Crolla in his corner, needed only 98 seconds to grab his latest win, moving to 7-0, (3KOs)

The 22-year-old landed a deadly right hand to Zulgis’s left temple. He looked like he might, just, beat the count, but was unable to continue.

This was Lavin’s third win of 2025 having KO’d Jan Balog at the National Stadium in the opening round of their clash before claiming a points win against Dzmitry Atrokhau over six rounds in Altrincham.

Zulgis, a Latvian now based in Doncaster, had caused an upset before, but Lavin wasn’t in a mood to hang around to see if he was capable of another. 

Jason Myers v Kevin Kirchner 

‘Hands of Stone’ Jason Myers lived up to his billing again.

Myers stopped Kevin Kirchner in 126 seconds of the first round to move to 4-0 (3KOs) as a professional.

The Galway cruiser was back at the venue of his 2023 debut win and it was case of deja vu having beaten Martin Miley here two years ago in the opening round.

Myers and Kirchner – a 23-year-old German – traded solid blows in the early exchanges, but a monster right hand by Myers was a snapshot of what was to come.

A quick and clever right just over two minutes into the contest brought the hammer and the curtain down all at once. 

Kian Hedderman v Mateusz Piorkowsk 

Kian Hedderman’s perfect start to life as a pro continued as he ended Mateusz Piorkowsk’s night after just 1:55 of the first round.

Limerick cruiserweight Hedderman had stopped Akexandu Crasnitchii at the 3Arena on his professional debut at the 3Arena earlier this month.

The Our Lady Of Lourdes BC graduate Hedderman has sparred with the likes of Joseph Parker and Ben Whittaker since ditching the vest having won 

two Irish U22 titles and an Intermediate crown.

Hedderman had the 34-year-old Piorkowsk down three times. While Referee Padraig O’Reachtagain gave Piorkowsk every chance after the second time, but there was no Resurrection after the third.

Tiernan Bradley v Brice Bula Galo 

In the build-up to the card promoter Jason Quigley billed Tiernan Bradley as no longer a prospect: “He is a contender”, Quigley declared.

Bradley bagged the sixth stoppage of his pro career with a vicious right in the third round of his clash with Brice Bula Galo and now stands 11-0-1 (6KOs).

The end came two minutes and 33 seconds into the third round.

Bradley, out of the southpaw stance.,showed a good range of tools in a busy opening round from the Brighton-based Omagh welter.

‘The Gun’ Galo tested Bradley’s midriff with a good left in the second, but Bradley, showing good head movement, replied in kind.

Bradley rocked Galo in the third and momentarily the blue corner man looked in trouble. The Congo-born 39-year-old managed something of a wild riposte.

The fight seemed to be settling somewhat, but Bradley left Galo seeing stars in a neutral corner. Soon, Bradley was mounting the turnbuckle to take the acclaim of the Tyrone crowd with David Irving waving it off.

Bradley flipped over to the pro ranks and had four wins in Spain and Belfast in 2020 and 2021.

The 28-year-old shared a draw with Ben Crocker at York Hall in April when the IBF European title was on the line.

Jim Donovan v Bartłomiej Włodarczyk

Jim Donovan wasted no time in bagging the second win of his pro career – and a memorable first stoppage.

Donovan halted Bartłomiej Włodarczyk inside the first round of their middleweight matchup in Letterkenny.

The 21-year-old Limerick southpaw stopped Włodarczyk with a wicked right hand after just one minute and 44 seconds of the first round.

It was Włodarczyk’s second visit to the floor – and referee Paul McCullough had seen enough.

Backed by a boisterous visiting crowd from Shannonside, Donovan looked like man on a mission and around a minute in he floored Włodarczyk with a lethal left. The end already seemed close – and so it proved. 

Donovan out-pointed Lukasz Barabasz 39-26 after a four round middleweight clash on the undercard of Lewis Crocker’s win over Paddy Donovan for the IBF world welterweight title at Windsor Park in September.

Tiana Schroeder v Judit Hachbold 

Waterford-based fly Tiana Schroeder moved to 5-0 with a points win over a game Judit Hachbold.

Schroeder put Hachbold down in the sixth and the Hungarian was essentially saved by the final bell of the bout.

Schroeder had Hachold under stern pressure with the 32-year-old’s gum shield spending quite a spell on the canvas.

The 22-year-old, Canadian born and now training in Waterford under Jimmy Payne, was given a 60-53 decision at the end of six rugged rounds.

Joe Ward joined Payne in Schroeder’s corner and they were imploring their woman to go for the kill late in the fight.

Schroeder popped Hachbold to the floor in the final stanza, but it was to the scorecard with Schroeder the comfortable winner. 

EXHIBITIONS

The night got underway with three exhibition bouts featuring some exciting amateurs.

Ryley Doherty of Raphoe Boxing Club and Cormac Dillon from Eglinton fought over three two-minute rounds with Kilcullen’s Aodhan Byrne and Jamie Horner going for a similar distance while Twin Towns BC’s Caoimhin Connolly and Conan McSorely from Newtownstwart danced for four two-minute verses. The amateur fights were refereed by Carrigart Boxing Club’s James McCarron.

The bill is topped by ‘Cool’ Callum Bradley (7-0). The 26-year-old overcame Pollard in Bolton in February before claiming a points win over Martinez at the Devenish Complex in Belfast in June.

His brother, Tiernan Bradley, will also feature.  The Brighton-based light-welterweight (10-0-1, 5KOs) shared a draw with Ben Crocker at York Hall in April when the IBF European title was on the line.

Danny Duffy (2-0) is aiming to gain momentum now as a pro – and a home show in Donegal will be the perfect stage for the Raphoe Boxing Club ace, the Irish bantamweight champ in 2023. 

Eoghan Lavin (6-0, 2KOs) has two wins under his belt in 2025 having KO’d Jan Balog at the National Stadium in the opening round of their clash in April before claiming a points win against Dzmitry Atrokhau over six rounds in Altrincham last month.

Limerick cruiserweight Kian Hedderman (1-0, 1KO), Galway cruiser Jason Myers (3-0, 2KOs), Limerick middleweight Jim Donovan (1-0) and Waterford-based Canadian flyweight Tiana Schroeder (4-0, 1KO) will also take to the canvas

Exciting Enniskillen prospect Rhys Owens, a 2024 Irish Elite champion will duck between the ropes for his professional debut.

Three amateur exhibition contests will get the night underway.