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‘That’s The Dream’ – Boxing Ireland Eye FULL IRISH

Jamie Morrissey and Robbie Burke’s entertaining Celtic Clash 12 battle has Boxing Ireland promoter Leonard Gunning dreaming of all Irish card.

The Celtic Clash series has been built on all Irish matches, is the home of many modern small hall classics, and managed to produce another Fight of the Year contender at the Devenish on Saturday.

Gunning was purring in the aftermath, noting the late notice derby produced in terms of action and atmosphere.

The Sligo fight maker points out such dust-ups are exactly what fans want to see – and rather than deliver them in increments over a number of shows, Boxing Ireland want to do one big night of domestic action.

“It was a fantastic fight, hats off to the two boys for taking the fight. They didn’t need to take that fight, they could have swerved each other easily and fought later down the line with a title on the line, but they were both eager to take it,” Gunning told Irish-boxing.com.

“I knew it was going be a great fight. I did say during the week that it had shades of [Declan] Trainor versus Block [Stephen Reynolds], now it didn’t have the knockdowns that had, but it had just as much action. It was fantastic. They’re the type of fights people want to see again.

“People want to see all Irish fights. There were some good fights there tonight but you saw the atmosphere and anticipation ramp up as soon as the two boys got in the ring. It’s obvious this is what people want to see. Let’s make as many all Irish fights as we can. I would love to see a full card where there wasn’t a man that hadn’t to get a flight to fight on the card. That’s the dream.”

That dream won’t come to fruition just yet. Gunning reveals there are a few chess moves still to be played before it’s possible.

“I doubt it will [happen on Celtic Clash] 13 as there are still a few lads need to get out and some lads developing but it is the goal and the more of that kind of fight we can get on shows the better.”

One all Irish fight that could be seen very soon is a repeat of Saturday’s bill topper. In fact, Gunning, who runs Boxing Ireland alongside Stephen Sharpe and Dennis Morrison, believes it has trilogy potential.

“I would like to see that topping the bill again with a title on the line. You could have a trilogy. They could fight for the Celtic title and the Irish title then. It was a good clash of styles and while it’s a very wide points decision it wasn’t a very wide fight.”

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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