WILLIE Casey is certainly not resting on his laurels. The recently crowned European super bantam weight champion has confirmed he is set to return to the ring just five weeks after his historic title success.
The 28-year-old Southill southpaw is to fight in Dublin’s National Basketball Arena on Friday, December 10.
It was thought that Limerick’s new sporting hero would enjoy his recent success over the Christmas period and then headline an event in Cork’s Neptune Stadium on Saturday, January 22 as a warm-up for his title defence against former champion Kiko Martinez in March.
But over the weekend Casey was confirmed for the Tallaght event which will be his seventh night of professional boxing in 2010.
“I’m delighted to be fighting again so soon. I’m feeling great and looking forward to putting on a show for all my fans in Dublin,” explained the EBU champion.
The December event is being organised by Willie Casey’s management team at Dolphil Promotions.
While Casey’s European title won’t be on the line he is adamant that he does not want to loose his unbeaten run in the pro-boxing ranks.
“It isn’t a warm up though. That is a little disrespectful. I won’t be taking anything for granted.
“I am a scalp now and I expect my opponent to be all out against me. I won’t be thinking about Kiko until eight weeks before our March fight,” explained the proud Limerick man.
Casey’s fight will appear on the undercard of Anthony Fitzgerald’s WBF inter-continental title fight with others like Dean Byrne, Gavin Prunty, Christina McMahon, JJ McDonagh, Patrick Hyland, Paddy McDonagh and Noel O’Brien also on the schedule.
“Up and down the country ‘Casey Mania’ has gripped the nation like no other fighter.
“Having defeated Hyland in just his 11th professional fight, comparisons have been made to that of fairytales with some pundits labelling him ‘The Cinderella Man’,” explained Daniel Halpin of Dolphil Promotions.
“Fans are being urged to buy their tickets now as the capacity is restricted. Irish boxing fans must surely be licking their lips as Dolphil Promotions have also added Dean Byrne to the card - the Freddie Roach-trained fighter will be looking to extend his unbeaten record to 14-0.”
Capacity for Casey’s 12th pro-fight will be restricted to 1,000 and the fight will not be shown live on television.
Tickets are available from www.ticketgroup.ie or call 0818 33 33 44 or 087 280 4380.
The weekend of December 10-11 will be a busy one for Limerick fight fans with Andy Lee also in action.
On Saturday, December 11 the Castleconnell middleweight fights on the undercard of the Waldimir Klitschko and Derek Chisora heavyweight world title fight at the SAP Arena in Mannheim, Germany. Currently ranked number nine in the WBA world rankings Lee’s opponent for next month’s fight is yet to be confirmed.
The former St. Francis Boxing Club Olympian is in Austria at present training with Klitschko ahead of their December fights.
After that December 11 fight Lee could be set for a rematch against Brian Vera.
Brian Vera inflicted Lee’s only defeat in his 25-bout professional boxing career back in March 2008, but the Limerick middleweight has regrouped to win nine successive fights since that shock reversal.
If Andy Lee does win in Germany his rematch against Brian Vera could take place on February 4.
Jerome O'Connell
Monday, November 29, 2010
Monday, November 22, 2010
Murphy - back with a bang for Munster
BARRY Murphy celebrated his return to Munster’s starting line-up by grabbing a precious second half try in the province’s top-of-the-table Magners League victory over the Scarlets at Musgrave Park last night.
Murphy, who had not started a game for Munster in 14 months due to injury, powered through the Scarlets defence in the 51st minute after collecting Paul Warwick’s well-timed pass to score a terrific try.
A combination of ankle, back and hamstring injuries had forced Murphy’s absence from Munster’s starting line-up since September 2009.
The 27-year-old outside centre, who had made a brief appearance for Tony McGahan’s side against the Wallabies at Thomond Park last week, showed he had lost none of his old sparkle when crossing for a crucial try in the 27-26 victory.
Two other young Limerick players also contributed handsomely to the win. Garryowen scrum-half Conor Murray turned in a Man of the Match performance after being introduced as a first half replacement for the injured Duncan Williams.
Murray’s Garryowen club-mate, Mike Sherry, produced another eye-catching display at hooker.
Sherry was only called into the starting line line-up on match day after Damien Varley had been ruled out with a shoulder injury.
Munster coach Tony McGahan will be keeping his fingers crossed that Varley, hamstring injury victim Alan Quinlan and full-back Johne Murphy, forced to miss the win over the Scarlets with a knee injury, recover in time for Friday night’s trip to Rodney Parade to face the Dragons (7.05pm).
Munster currently enjoy a seven-point lead over the Scarlets at the top of the Magners League table.
Friday evening’s clash against the Dragons will be Munster’s third outing in the space of ten days.
Munster coach Tony McGahan said it was important now that they were mentally fresh for the challenge the Dragons would pose on Friday night.
“The biggest thing for us now ahead of the game with the Dragons on Friday is to make sure we recover properly,” McGahan said.
“We are faced with playing three games in a very short period.
“We need to make sure we are mentally fresh and looking forward to the challenge posed by the Dragons away from home.
“At this time we let the table look after itself. We need to make sure that we are going forward each week and are able to ground out victories with not everyone available to us. We are doing that at this point in time.”
“Overall, we are really delighted. A night like last Tuesday (against Australia) really takes a lot out of the players both emotionally and physically, especially in the wet conditions. It was a wet game and high attrition rate for the forwards. To back it up here and play against a Scarlets side which is fresh and not missing too many it is credit to the lads.”
Meanwhile, on the club front, Garryowen advanced to an ODM Financial Munster Senior Cup final date with Bruff on Sunday, December 19 after securing a comfortable 43-26 semi-final win over Dolphin at Tom Clifford Park.
Bruff’s scheduled semi-final meeting with Highfield was called-off after the Cork side confirmed that they are unable to play the game. Highfield also acknowledge that they have conceded the game to Bruff.
COLM KINSELLA
Murphy, who had not started a game for Munster in 14 months due to injury, powered through the Scarlets defence in the 51st minute after collecting Paul Warwick’s well-timed pass to score a terrific try.
A combination of ankle, back and hamstring injuries had forced Murphy’s absence from Munster’s starting line-up since September 2009.
The 27-year-old outside centre, who had made a brief appearance for Tony McGahan’s side against the Wallabies at Thomond Park last week, showed he had lost none of his old sparkle when crossing for a crucial try in the 27-26 victory.
Two other young Limerick players also contributed handsomely to the win. Garryowen scrum-half Conor Murray turned in a Man of the Match performance after being introduced as a first half replacement for the injured Duncan Williams.
Murray’s Garryowen club-mate, Mike Sherry, produced another eye-catching display at hooker.
Sherry was only called into the starting line line-up on match day after Damien Varley had been ruled out with a shoulder injury.
Munster coach Tony McGahan will be keeping his fingers crossed that Varley, hamstring injury victim Alan Quinlan and full-back Johne Murphy, forced to miss the win over the Scarlets with a knee injury, recover in time for Friday night’s trip to Rodney Parade to face the Dragons (7.05pm).
Munster currently enjoy a seven-point lead over the Scarlets at the top of the Magners League table.
Friday evening’s clash against the Dragons will be Munster’s third outing in the space of ten days.
Munster coach Tony McGahan said it was important now that they were mentally fresh for the challenge the Dragons would pose on Friday night.
“The biggest thing for us now ahead of the game with the Dragons on Friday is to make sure we recover properly,” McGahan said.
“We are faced with playing three games in a very short period.
“We need to make sure we are mentally fresh and looking forward to the challenge posed by the Dragons away from home.
“At this time we let the table look after itself. We need to make sure that we are going forward each week and are able to ground out victories with not everyone available to us. We are doing that at this point in time.”
“Overall, we are really delighted. A night like last Tuesday (against Australia) really takes a lot out of the players both emotionally and physically, especially in the wet conditions. It was a wet game and high attrition rate for the forwards. To back it up here and play against a Scarlets side which is fresh and not missing too many it is credit to the lads.”
Meanwhile, on the club front, Garryowen advanced to an ODM Financial Munster Senior Cup final date with Bruff on Sunday, December 19 after securing a comfortable 43-26 semi-final win over Dolphin at Tom Clifford Park.
Bruff’s scheduled semi-final meeting with Highfield was called-off after the Cork side confirmed that they are unable to play the game. Highfield also acknowledge that they have conceded the game to Bruff.
COLM KINSELLA
Niland shoots up the world rankings
LIMERICK tennis star Conor Niland has reached a career high ranking of 131 in the world after his weekend victory in the Salzburg Indoor Open. The 29-year-old Mungret man claimed the top prize money of €6,150 and moved up 16 places in the latest ATP rankings. Ireland’s number one ranked player defeated the unseeded Jerzy Janowicz in this Sunday’s final - 7-6, 6-7, 6-3.
The victory in the ATP Challenger Tour event in Austria earned Niland 80 ranking points and edged him closer to his dream of entering the world’s top 100.
The win marked Conor Niland’s third singles title on the second-tier Challenger circuit, his previous similar achievements having been in the Israel Open, in Ramat Hasharon, last May and the New Delhi Open, India in August 2008.
Conor Niland’s win in Austria comes just one week after reaching the semi-finals of the Loughborough Challenger.
The Limerick man will have little time to savour his success however as today he faces a long-haul flight to Japan for this week’s Challenger event in Toyota.
Niland’s new ranking would have been high enough for him to make the main draw of this week’s more lucrative Challenger in Helsinki, but he wasn’t aware of that when he accepted a place in the Japan tournament.
In Japan’s Dunlop World Challenger Niland is seeded number two. In his last event of the year he will face Japanese qualifier Yasutaka Uchiyama in the first round on Tuesday.
In yesterday’s final Niland was a two sets to one winner against his Polish opponent.
In a gripping and roller-coaster final the eighth-seeded Limerick man saw off the challenge of the unseeded left-hander on a 7-6 (7/5) 6-7 (2/7) 6-3 scoreline.
After 183-ranked Janowicz levelled at one set all, an early break in the third set gave Niland the boost he needed and subsequently he was never in danger of dropping his serve en route to closing out the match.
Niland reached the final after the number two seed Karol Beck withdrew ahead of their semi-final with a foot injury. In the quarter-finals on Friday afternoon Conor Niland defeated Spain’s Ivan Navarro 7-5, 6-3.
Conor Niland is a member of the BNP Paribas National Tennis Academy based at the National Tennis Centre in DCU. He trains there under the guidance of Tennis Ireland Technical Director, Garry Cahill.
Jerome O'Connell
The victory in the ATP Challenger Tour event in Austria earned Niland 80 ranking points and edged him closer to his dream of entering the world’s top 100.
The win marked Conor Niland’s third singles title on the second-tier Challenger circuit, his previous similar achievements having been in the Israel Open, in Ramat Hasharon, last May and the New Delhi Open, India in August 2008.
Conor Niland’s win in Austria comes just one week after reaching the semi-finals of the Loughborough Challenger.
The Limerick man will have little time to savour his success however as today he faces a long-haul flight to Japan for this week’s Challenger event in Toyota.
Niland’s new ranking would have been high enough for him to make the main draw of this week’s more lucrative Challenger in Helsinki, but he wasn’t aware of that when he accepted a place in the Japan tournament.
In Japan’s Dunlop World Challenger Niland is seeded number two. In his last event of the year he will face Japanese qualifier Yasutaka Uchiyama in the first round on Tuesday.
In yesterday’s final Niland was a two sets to one winner against his Polish opponent.
In a gripping and roller-coaster final the eighth-seeded Limerick man saw off the challenge of the unseeded left-hander on a 7-6 (7/5) 6-7 (2/7) 6-3 scoreline.
After 183-ranked Janowicz levelled at one set all, an early break in the third set gave Niland the boost he needed and subsequently he was never in danger of dropping his serve en route to closing out the match.
Niland reached the final after the number two seed Karol Beck withdrew ahead of their semi-final with a foot injury. In the quarter-finals on Friday afternoon Conor Niland defeated Spain’s Ivan Navarro 7-5, 6-3.
Conor Niland is a member of the BNP Paribas National Tennis Academy based at the National Tennis Centre in DCU. He trains there under the guidance of Tennis Ireland Technical Director, Garry Cahill.
Jerome O'Connell
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
