‘Nothing Pleasant’ For Manager as Farrell and Boreland Face Off at Donovan-Crocker 2
It will be a case of contrasting emotions for Ian Guaghran come September 13.
The IGB boss admits he will experience both agony and ecstasy when two of his fighters collide on one of the biggest Irish cards of all time.
Gaughran finds himself in a familiar but uncomfortable position when Ruadhan Farrell defends his Irish super bantamweight title against IGB stablemate Matthew Boreland on the stacked Donovan vs Crocker 2 undercard at Windsor Park.
While Guaghran is proud to see both his men secure slots on such a massive stage, he concedes that fight night will be bittersweet.
“There’s nothing pleasant about it,” Guaghran told Irish-Boxing.com.
“You know one of your lads has to lose and that’s never easy. My first job after the fight will be to console the loser, because the winner has his team and family around him. It’s agony in that sense. But there’s also ecstasy — the belt stays in the stable no matter what, and both lads are getting a huge opportunity on a huge show.”
The manager says he never pushes his boxers to fight each other, but when both Farrell and Boreland expressed interest, his role was simply to make what is already an eagerly anticipated bout happen.
“It wasn’t a hard fight to make,” he continued. “Both lads wanted it, so my job was to get them the best terms possible. I’d prefer they weren’t fighting each other, but this is the sport. And at least they’re keeping it professional — there’s mutual respect and no nonsense on social media. It’s just business.”
‘El Nino’ is no stranger to domestic issues, having appeared in five all-Irish clashes. The Belfast fighter has shared the ring with Colm Murphy, Ger Hughes twice and Connor Kerr twice, winning four of the five and picking up the BUI Celtic and Irish titles along the way.
The all action ‘Bam Bam’ Boreland has been busy since turning over and has made no secret of his desire for more noteworthy fights.
