City after city is seeing officials make the call–better be safe, than sorry. Information on the spread of coronavirus is making the rounds, and now officials are choosing more so to be prudent, rather than brave…with fingers crossed.
On Saturday night, the House of Blues in Boston would have been jam-packed, and revelers would have soaked up a marvelous ambience–boxing, tunes, brews….the energy would have been pulsing throughout. Ray Moylette versus Larry Fryers in an all-Irish co-main event rumble…Ken Casey and The Dropkick Murphys matching and probably surpassing the energy level at the peak of the pugilistic action. Would have been…because Murphys Boxing has postponed the show. Mass. Gov. Charlie Baker called for a state of emergency on Tuesday. Event planners as of Wednesday thought the show would maybe go on. But by Thursday, the sad news, especially for those fighters who had trained so diligently for all those weeks, was delivered like a Mike Tyson uppercut.
Here is the message Murphys put out on Thursday afternoon:
This release was supposed to go out, to hype the show…
Boston (February 28, 2020): Murphys Boxing is proud to announce the full line-up for their 5th Annual St. Patrick's Day Clash which will take place on Saturday, March 14th once again at the House of Blues in Boston.
Headlining the already near sold-out event will be New Haven, Connecticut's Charles Foster (19-0, 8 KOs).
Foster, the current NABA Light Heavyweight Champion, will defend his title against Mexico's Manuel Ceballos (17-2, 11 KOs) in a 10 round bout.
Foster, who has been quietly climbing the ranks while putting on a series of flawless performances on platforms like Showtime and UFC Fight Pass over the past two years, is now ranked #4 in the world by the WBA and ready to fight for a world title in 2020. (NOTE: Dmitriy Bivol and Jean Pascal hold WBA belts at 175 currently.)
“It's been a childhood dream of mine to reach this level of the sport,” explains the soft spoken and humble 29 year old southpaw, seen landing the right hand in a Joseph Kelley action pic.
“It's surreal to think that I'm ranked in the Top 5 and in a position to fight for a world title. It does keep me humble and focused though, knowing I'm so close. It makes me work that much harder in the gym. I know I need to make a real statement on March 14th to get one of the top tier light heavyweights in the ring with me for a title or for a title eliminator.”
Having appeared on Murphys Boxing's last St. Patrick's Day event (here is Part 1 and here is part 2) Foster is well aware that it isn't the average boxing card.
“This is my second time fighting on a Murphys Boxing St. Patrick's Day card,” Foster said. “It’s a wild energy from the crowd. Fighting on stage with the audience looking up at you like a concert is amazing. It was easily my favorite venue and event of all my pro fights and I'm really excited to be part of it again.”
In the first of the dual co-main events, it's a bona fide Irish grudge match when Islandeady, Ireland native and Murphys Boxing's own Ray Moylette (11-1, 4 KOs) takes on Clones, Ireland's Larry Fryers (11-2, 4 KOs), who now lives and fights out of New York City.
The two prospects, with their nearly identical records, were scheduled to face each other this past summer but visa issues prevented Moylette from entering the country just days before the fight which created a friction between the two fighters.
Now ‘Sugar' Ray and ‘Lethal' Larry, who have each been each adopted by the rival sports cities of Boston and New York, will settle their differences in the ring on St. Patrick's Day weekend with the New England Lightweight Title on the line in an 8 round bout.
The night's other co-feature will see the return of Murphys Boxing's popular Irish heavyweight, Niall Kennedy (13-1-1, 8 KOs).
Kennedy is coming off his first loss, this past summer (August 17), when he was upset by USA Olympian, Devin Vargas, in a back and forth brawl.
Despite the setback, the big man from Gorey, Ireland will not face a soft touch in his comeback fight as he takes on the heavy handed North Carolina brawler, Don Haynesworth (16-3-1, 14 KOs) in an 8 round bout.
Kennedy, who is a police officer in his hometown, has been become a fan favorite in Boston, having fought almost his entire professional career in the New England area, including several past appearances at the annual Murphys Boxing holiday event.
The Clash will also feature a sensational undercard of local and international fighters including:
Murphys Boxing's Carlos Gongora (18-0, 13 KOs), an Ecuadorian Olympian and the #13 ranked middleweight in the world who will face Argentina's Gonzalo Coria (16-3, 6 KOs) with the WBC Fecarbox Title on the line in a 10 round middleweight bout.
Irish amateur sensation and the jointly promoted Murphys Boxing and DiBella Entertainment fighter, Joe Ward (0-1), whose highly anticipated debut last year ended with a freak knee injury, will return looking for his first professional victory vs Woburn, Massachusetts' Leandro Silva (2-3, 3 KOs) in a 6 round light heavyweight bout.
Murphys executive Sean Sullivan offered his sense of the stakes at hand in Boston: “Charles Foster looks to take one step closer to an inevitable title shot,” Sullivan said. “Charles continuously faces tough competition and never fails to dominate, while displaying tremendous ring generalship. Charles is fully ready for an eliminator or title shot.” Also, said Sullivan, “Ray Moylette versus Larry Fryers for the New England Junior Welterweight Title is much anticipated. Once in a while a fight comes along that has all the makings of a war and this is that fight! Both Ray and Larry are coming to not only win but make a statement, so this has fight of the night written all over it!”
Murphys Boxing's local favorite, Mike Ohan Jr. (9-1, 5 KOs), a second generation professional fighter from Holbrook, Massachusetts will take on Jersey City, New Jersey's Jordan Rosario (3-10) in a 6 round welterweight contest.
Power punching prospect, Luis Arcon Diaz (10-0, 10 KOs), a Venezuelan Olympian and recent Murphys Boxing signee, will face Brazil's Rodrigo Tatijewski (8-1, 7 KOs) in a 6 round junior welterweight bout.
Last but not least, the night will be kicked off by the east coast debut of Oxnard, California's, Danny Robles (2-0-1, 2 KOs), who has displayed unnatural power in his first three professional fights. ‘The Dawg' will take on Framingham, Massachusetts' Jader Alves de Oliveira, an MMA veteran who will be making his professional boxing debut in the 4 round super featherweight contest.
“The St. Patrick's Day Clash is my favorite promotion of the year and one that our fighters and fans really look forward to,” says Murphys Boxing founder and Dropkick Murphys frontman, Ken Casey.
“The atmosphere that's created when you put boxing on in a general admission, standing room only concert venue, let alone on St. Patrick's Day weekend in Boston, creates a unique and intense experience.”
As for the incredibly busy and successful year the promotional company is coming off of, Casey, who will also play 5 consecutive shows with Dropkick Murphys throughout Boston during St. Patrick's Day week, including an acoustic set in ring on fight night, is even more excited about what the new year holds for Murphys Boxing.
“2020 is just getting started and it's already been an amazing year for Murphys Boxing. First we had Spike O'Sullivan in the year's first high profile fight, when he went up in weight to face Jaime Munguia at the Alamodome. Spike made it an exciting war that already has him in line for a title shot back in the junior middleweight division. Then of course just last month, Mark DeLuca, one of our most popular fighters, traveled to Kell Brook's hometown and put on a gutsy performance in what was a massive event in the UK. That fight earned Mark a lot of new fans and opportunities. In 2020, we're expecting two of our Top 10 ranked fighters, Charles Foster and Abraham Nova, to fight for, and win, world titles and we also plan on putting our undefeated prospects like Carlos Gongora, Luis Arcon Diaz and William Foster III in position to enter the world rankings.”
Murphys Boxing's 5th Annual St. Patrick's Day Clash takes place on Saturday, March 14th in Boston, Massachusetts at the House of Blues (15 Lansdowne Street).
Doors open at 7pm. The night will also feature a special “in ring” acoustic performance by Dropkick Murphys and an appearance from Belfast rappers, Kneecap. Click HERE to buy tix now.
ABOUT MURPHYS BOXING
Murphys Boxing was founded by Dropkick Murphys' frontman, Ken Casey in 2014. In just 6 years, Murphys Boxing has become the premier boxing promoter in the New England area and one of the hottest young promotions in the country. Murphys Boxing's current roster features Top 10 world ranked champions like Charles Foster, Abraham Nova and Mark DeLuca, Top 20 world ranked contenders like Gary ‘Spike' O'Sullivan, Carlos Gongonra and Greg Vendetti and undefeated prospects like William Foster III, Luis Arcon Diaz and more.