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‘Massive shame’ – Blaney laments McCarthy title fight couldn’t take place in Ireland

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It’s case of right time wrong place with regard to Christopher Blaney [12)3)-2(0)-1] and Craig McCarthy’s BUI super middleweight Celtic title fight.

The meeting of the two well supported fighters seems to signify a recent changing in attitudes toward the domestic dust up.

Both fighters are keen to progress their careers and see an all Irish fight as the perfect platform from which to do so.

It’s also a the kind of match up a strong Irish card could be built around – and if held in either fighters home town would have been a massive shot in the arm for regional boxing and the sport in general in Ireland.

However, the lack of shows in Ireland means the mouthwatering clash has Bolton as a home.

Waterford, where McCarthy [7(2)-0] has a track record of doing serious tickets, was the original intended venue for the title fight.

However, promoter Neil Power pulled the show revealing he struggled to find a willing venue in Waterford whilst bemoaning the cost of running a show outside of Belfast.

The fight still takes place and a domestic strap will be brought into play, but the Ricky Hatton-trained Blaney admits it’s a massive shame it has to take place across the Irish Sea.

“It’s a massive shame it’s not in Ireland but when there’s no shows in Ireland there’s not much we can do,” Blaney told Irish-boxing.com.

“I know Craig sells a lot of tickets and when we agreed to fight in Waterford I was looking forward to the atmosphere but it was never to be,” he adds before explaining how the fight was made.

“I was asked to fight him in Cork [on Martin Horgan’s Neptune-hosted show]. I accepted but it never happened so then there was talks of fighting in his home town in Waterford, which also fell through.”

“We tried to get it for the Irish title but Craig hasn’t done an eight rounder yet so that’s why it’s for the Celtic and not the Irish title.”

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Jonny Stapleton

Irish-boxing.com contributor for 15 years and editor for the past decade. Have been covering boxing for over 16 years and writing about sports for a living for over 20 years. Former Assistant Sports editor for the Gazette News Paper Group and former Tallaght Voice Sports Editor. Have had work published in publications around the world when working as a freelance journalist. Also co-founder of Junior Sports Media and Leinster Rugby PRO of the Year winner. email: editoririshboxing@gmail.com

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