Ulster and Irish news round up by Steve Wellings Mar 2nd 2008

A press conference takes place in Belfast on Monday to announce a contest for the vacant Irish super-featherweight title at the National Stadium, Dublin on April 19th. Local man Eddie Hyland, a fast-punching ticket seller will face off with Kevin O'Hara, a more experienced campaigner with a smooth boxing style but with three losses on the slate to Hyland's one. Another member of the Hyland clan, brother Patrick is also on the bill against Paul Griffin, a 36-year-old southpaw who has been boxing over in Australia. Griffin is vastly more experienced with a 24-3 record and has mixed company with the likes of Jackson Asiku and Dean Pithie. Hyland meanwhile is 9-0 and on the rise; this fight is for the Irish featherweight crown. The third sibling, Paul Hyland is on the undercard alongside Gary O'Sullivan, Ian Tims, Declan Timlin and Irish welterweight king Billy Walsh. It's busy times in the Republic as Brian Peters announced the return of former European super-bantamweight champion Bernard Dunne, a week earlier on April 12th in Castlebar, Co Mayo. Fresh from the birth of a baby daughter, Dunne feels invigorated and is eager to punch himself back into title contention, “I just want to get back in there and get back on track starting with this fight.” In the opposite corner will be former IBF super-flyweight holder Felix Machado who holds a technical decision win over quality Martin Castillo, albeit in 2002. At 35 his best years are certainly behind him but this will not bother Dunne who is itching for another crack at Kiko Martinez. “I'd like to get Mr. Martinez in the ring again as soon as possible for obvious reasons. There are other factors to consider though with Kiko fighting under a different promotional banner so I don't know if the fight can be made but if it comes along I'll be ready for it.” Martinez of course meets Rendall Munroe next in Nottingham and for my money there is no guarantee he will still be clutching the title at the end of the fight. With this in mind it's good to see Dunne back and hopefully packing out the southern capital again soon. The support card shapes up with Damian Taggart, Michael Sweeney and local Keith Cresham all pencilled in. Busy Cuban Mike Perez is on the list as well as John O'Donnell. Uncertainty surrounds Martin Rogan's next ring appearance as he was originally mooted to be on the Macklin-Campas undercard in Dublin later this month in an eight rounder. This was a pre-curser to an Irish title shot in the summer but Rogie is now apparently the eighth competitor in the York Hall heavyweight tournament. Local promoter Pat Magee told the Irish News: “It's a great chance for Martin to gain a promotional contract with Barry Hearn if he wins the competition.” Similarly Scott Belshaw was down as appearing in both the Boston show on March 15th and the Nottingham bill just a week earlier! Hopefully both queries will be cleared up soon. As mentioned in a previous round-up, Brian Magee boxes Tyrone Wright in the busy Nottingham card on March 7th. Magee has his eyes on the Commonwealth belt, back down at his former weight of super-middle. Current holder of that title Charles Adamu defends in the Bahamas this weekend against local hero Jermain Mackay. My concern would be Magee's decision to move back down a weight class after expressing much relief at the initial move up to light-heavyweight, claiming constant battles to make l2 stone. Finally, another Irishman will join Belfast's Paddy Barnes at the Beijing Olympics in the summer. Bantamweight John-Joe Nevin defeated his Ukranian opponent to book his ticket.

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