In some boxing circles, the Belfast southpaw is considered the unluckiest fighter in the world due to missed opportunities during his professional tenure. However, “Apache” is unlikely to feel he deserves that status now, after edging out Liverpool stalwart Dickens in a terribly close affair.
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The Queensberry event was the most popular event in Dublin on St. Patrick’s Day weekend, but neither Cacace nor Dickens can take full credit for it.
What was talked about in press row was that Irish prospect Pierce O’Leary sold half of the 9,000 seats himself. Coming from “just 200 yards down the road” from the venue, as he told reporters before the fight, O’Leary had the sand in the palm of his glove from the moment his music blasted over the speakers.
His opponent, Maxi Hughes, showed up on two weeks’ notice after Mark Chamberlain withdrew from the contest. However, it was Hughes’ corner who retired his fighter after five rounds of punishment from the north-central boxer.
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The roar of the crowd supported rumors of O’Leary’s salesmanship as he celebrated in the ring. Thrilled after her first major victory in a building she is expected to become familiar with in the coming years, she soon received a majestic endorsement when pound-for-pound star Katie Taylor, the unanimous most adored athlete on the Emerald Isle, walked through the ropes.
You could almost see the dollar signs in promoter Frank Warren’s eyes before he was interviewed after O’Leary’s victory. Noticing the thunderous applause and Taylor at his side, the Queensberry boss said the magic words the city was waiting to hear:
“Where do we go from here? Croke Park?!?”
The crowd roared in approval.
(Damien Eagers – PA Images via Getty Images)
Saturday marked the fifth boxing event at Dublin’s 3Arena since Katie Taylor and Matchroom brought the professional sport back to the Irish capital in 2023. Her pair of encounters with Chantelle Cameron provided ample opportunities for many on the domestic boxing scene. On top of that, it revived the idea of a fight being a social night out, something that hadn’t been a viable option in Dublin since former Irish champion Bernard Dunne regularly headlined the same venue almost two decades ago.
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Irish boxing was once believed to be another casualty of the Regency Hotel shooting in 2016. Ten years ago, David Byrne was killed in a failed attempt to assassinate cartel leader Daniel Kinahan during a boxing weigh-in held at the north Dublin facility. The incident was a catalyst for a violent escalation in the Hutch-Kinahan gang feud, with 18 people killed over the next two years.
According to a 2023 article in The Irish Times, boxing events were banned in the country afterwards, as “(Irish police) and insurance companies have refused to approve any high-profile boxing events for fear of a repeat of the violence.”
Boxing continued to be tarnished by its links to the dispute as Kinahan’s management company MTK Global signed many of the island’s talents. It’s worth noting that 3Arena is just a short walk from a Hutch stronghold, Sheriff Street, making the Dublin venue a potential flashpoint should an event occur that puts rival factions under the same roof.
MTK Global closed shortly after the United States imposed sanctions on what they called the “Kinahan Organized Crime Group” in 2022. Although the dispute between Hutch and Kinahan has not officially ended in the years since, its intensity has cooled significantly.
Katie Taylor helped bring boxing back to Ireland in 2023 following the 2016 Regency Hotel shooting.
(David Fitzgerald via Getty Images)
After Saturday’s event, one could easily have mistaken the sea of people heading from 3Arena down Sheriff Street for a practice run for Tuesday’s St. Patrick’s Day parade. A close-knit community, O’Leary’s neighbors will no doubt have raised a glass or two in his name, toasting their new champion into the early hours of Sunday morning.
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Warren’s long-term rival, Matchroom star Eddie Hearn, is currently tasked with delivering the long-awaited Croke Park climax to the Irish boxing revival he launched with Taylor. There is growing support for the Bray legend to have a big night at the historic 82,300-capacity stadium for the final fight of his storied career and, according to recent comments, Hearn is feeling the pressure.
“It’s a lot of work to ensure that one of the greatest athletes of all time achieves her ultimate dream,” Hearn said on a recent episode of “The Ariel Helwani Show.”
“And I have to deliver Croke Park (for Taylor). I have to do it. If I don’t give it my all, if I don’t do everything I can to make this happen, I won’t do justice to Katie or myself. Because this would be the biggest sporting event in Irish history.”
Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn and Katie Taylor have long wanted a fight at Ireland’s 82,300-capacity Croke Park.
(Stephen McCarthy via Getty Images)
Hearn should be reminded of his new foe Dana White’s past wishes to hold a Conor McGregor-led UFC event at the famous GAA ground. In their current battle for superiority, surely a massive combat sports event on Ireland’s most famous arena would be a significant victory for the English promoter.
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There are those who believe that boxing, or mixed martial arts, do not deserve a date on the sacred grass. However, they do not make the same claims about Taylor.
And if the boxing queen’s return home to Ireland in 2023 planted the seed that led to the renaissance of Irish sport, who knows what fruit a farewell fight in front of 80,000 of her adoring crowd could bear in the future.