Hearn: This is a new era for Irish boxing and all roads lead to Croke Park

Picture by Photos by Ricardo 

EDDIE Hearn wants to bring a big Irish fight night to GAA Headquarters and Croke Park.

The Matchroom boss was in the famous stadium Wednesday morning to reveal details of the Return of the Mack fight card set for the National Stadium on on August 30.

Hearn claimed he was in Dublin to stay and start a ‘new era’ for Irish boxing. He also revealed he has dreams of putting on a massive Irish fight night in Croker.

The Promoter has the 02 booked for a big night in November, where he hopes to pit Matthew Macklin against either Andy Lee, Martin Murray or one of the World title holders.

But his Irish aspirations don’t stop there and he revealed a George Groves versus Carl Froch II Wembley hosted style fight in Croke Park is the ultimate dream.

“We have plans to move forward in many markets and this is definitely one that is a number one priority for us,” said Hearn at a packed press conference today.

“August 30 is just the beginning and we are here today (Croke Park) because this is the end goal. We want to bring a show to Croke Park. I know there was one here before Muhammad Ali in 1972.

“We always like to dream big, but start on August 30 in The National Stadium. It sold out in 12 minutes.”

Hearn claims he was looking for a way to get a foothold in the ‘Irish Market’ and believes Matthew Macklin is the perfect vehicle for Matchroom to establish a foothold in the Irish capital.

The promoter with the exclusive deal with Sky Sports believes August 30 in the National Stadium will launch a new era for Irish-boxing.

“The concept started really with Matthew Macklin. We started speaking and he had a plan and a desire to return to Ireland to box and really sees this as his new focus.

“Obviously he has spent a lot of time in America and had some huge fights out there. Of course he was wrongfully given a loss against Felix Sturm. Now it is a new era for Matthew Macklin as well as Irish boxing. Matthew Macklin has given us the reason to come to Dublin. We wouldn’t be here without him. This one always about dipping our toe in the water but from I have seen, not just from ticket sales, but from the fans, from the fans and from the people things are very positive.