Raphoe ABC stalwart Peter O’Donnell is leading a 20-strong delegation from the club for a major boxing tournament in Birmingham on Saturday night.
There are 14 bouts slated for the tournament, to be staged at Billesley Common, the home of Moseley Rugby Club.
O’Donnell will be team manager for the trip with the bouts matched by Raphoe ABC Head Coach Gary McCullagh and Second City Boxing Club’s Paddy Farrell.
“This will be a fantastic experience,” O’Donnell said ahead of a night that is expected to attract in excess of 400 people.
“It’s a big occasion for all the boxers. Hopefully they can perform on the night.
“We’ve been over quite often and we always look forward to it. Some of the boys we get going on these trips wouldn’t even have had a passport.”
Former middleweight world title challenger Matthew Macklin will be special guest on the night.
McCullagh will be joined in the corner by fellow Raphoe coaches Gerard Keaveney and Paul O’Donnell, while Matthew Carlin of Dunree ABC is the only non-Raphoe puncher making the trip.
Raphoe ABC have extended their thanks to Jeremy Ayton who is sponsoring a bus to and from Dublin Airport.
The match-ups for Saturday night are: Aaron McDaid v Patrick Farrell, Brendan O’Hagan v Dylan Murphy, Danny Buchannan v Simon Doherty, Eoin McGarrell v Raheem Mohamid, Conor McGurk v Jake Lee, Dennis Lafferty v Liam Davis, Daniel Duggan v Grant Attwood, Paul Darby v Jack Pole, Ruairi McGlinchey v Jamie Mansel, Orin McDermott v Tomasz Gyryckeck, Matthew Carlin (Dunree) v Darren Farrell
Listen to the full interview below …
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