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Irish-American boxer claims Ray Moylette pulled out of a fight with him this weekend


An Irish-American boxer in the Boston area has come out and claimed that he agreed to a fight with Mayo star Ray Moylette [6(2)-0], but saw this proposed match-up fall by the wayside.

Salem-born Matt Doherty [7(4)-3(0)], whose ancestors hailed from Cork and Donegal, has revealed that he was approached to fight Moylette this Saturday at the House of Blues in Boston on the big Golden Boy on ESPN card.

However, after accepting the fight, Doherty was later told that the offer had been pulled.

‘The Mantis’ explained how “I was asked numerous times by a few people to fight this Saturday.”

“A couple of weeks ago I said ‘okay let’s do this,’ and two days later me and my coach received a call that he [Moylette] pulled from the offer to fight and didn’t think it was right at the moment.”

Moylette remains on the card this weekend in what will be his second fight in two weeks.

It had been announced earlier this month that the former European gold medalist was to fight Puerto Rican Hector Rivera [3(2)-2(1)] – however now he will face veteran Michael Clark [44(18)-17(14)-1], who unsuccessfully challenged for the WBO lightweight title way back in 1999.

It seems as though Doherty was floated in between these two opponents, and he feels that Moylette’s tough fight with Donte Bryant is the reason that they will no longer meet this Saturday.

Fighting at the Foxwoods Casino back on Friday September 15th, 27 year old Moylette battled back from a second round knockdown to claim a six-round split decision win.

Doherty noted how “I figured he just had a battle and didn’t want fight on the show – but now it seems to me it’s because they wanted to take an easier fight.”

The 29 year old is on a three fight winning streak since successive points losses in a New England title challenge and against Chinese amateur star Zhimin Wang.

He states that he would “absolutely” be interested in facing Moylette, perhaps for a regional title, once the Islandeady fighter returns for his next U.S fight and admits that “I just really liked the opportunity and was disappointed it didn’t happen.”

frayne carpentry

Joe O'Neill

Reporting on Irish boxing the past five years. Work has appeared on irish-boxing.com, Boxing News, the42.ie, and local and national media. Provide live ringside updates, occasional interviews, and special features on the future of Irish boxing. email: joneill6@tcd.ie

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