Tales from the Ring

On this weeks episode, I will be looking back at some of the greatest families in Irish professional boxing. This will cover almost 100 years in the sport and many different families will be featured. We have brothers, fathers and sons, uncles-nephews and many more connections. Let me know of any families that you think deserve a special mention and apologies if I have missed any families out.

Paul Quinn and I talk about some of the big talking points from the last month in Irish and world boxing. We preview some of the massive cards involving Irish fighters starting with Lewis Crocker v Paddy Donovan at the SSE Arena. We also give our thoughts on the great undercard featuring, Padraig McCrory v Craig Richards and Tommy McCarthy v Steven Ward amongst others.

We also look ahead to the mouth watering contest between Aaron McKenna and Liam Smith on the Conor Benn v Chris Eubank undercard at the Tottenham Hotspur arena in April.

We gives our opinions on the imminent news that Anto Cacace will face Leigh Wood in a massive fight after recently vacating his IBF world title. Finally, we give our 5 fight predictions for the huge upcoming Saudi card this month featuring Beterbiev v Bivol 2 and Daniel Dubois v Joseph Parker and many more.

Tiernan Bradley is currently undefeated as a professional boxer and he has set his sights on major titles in 2025. On the episode, Tiernan talks me through his journey growing up in County Tyrone, winning countless Irish titles as well as claiming European and Commonwealth medals in the amateur ranks. He also discusses his adventures in countries such as Russia, Samoa and the USA . During the journey there have been long periods of inactivity which ultimately left Tiernan having to lose over 30kg's to get to the point where he could restart his career as a professional boxer in late 2020. In the last 4 years he has moved to 10-0 in the pro ranks, moved to Brighton, sparred world class fighters and is currently backed by GBM promotions. We also chat about future plans and his goals going forward.

Connor Coyle has the current longest unbeaten streak of any Irish professional boxer (21-0). The Derry native has been based in Florida, USA throughout his professional career and is deep in camp for his upcoming fight at Madison Square Garden against Vito Mielnicki Jr for WBC, WBO and USBA International titles on Valentines Day. On the podcast, Connor firstly talks about his upbringing in Derry and his family history in the sport. Connor talks about his amateur career which he feels was unfulfilled but would ultimately end in a Commonwealth Games bronze medal in Glasgow, 2014. Since turning professional in 2016 he has won numerous American and International belts and is WBA world ranked number 3. We also touch upon the potential for some big domestic contests in the future, but first he is not overlooking his biggest challenge to date on Valentine’s day. Listen to Connor’s story today.

Paul Quinn and I debate our Top 10 Heavyweight's of all time. We cover fighters from past generations right up to the modern day greats. We debate our different criteria's and examine each boxers achievements and CV. It's fair to say our lists might be the most controversial yet with some amazing names missing out on both of our lists. Do you agree with our selections? Have a listen and let us know who makes your Top 10 list.

On this weeks podcast, I investigate just who may be considered as Ireland's hardest ever puncher. I look at our many champions records and go through the 10 boxers with the highest KO ratios. As well as statistics, I discuss other factors that have to be considered including, era, weight division campaigned and quality of opposition. Everyone will have their own opinions, so please let me know who would make your short list.

Just for a bit of craic, Paul Quinn and I look back at a great year of boxing with our first annual awards show. We make our picks from the following categories:

- World boxer of the year

- Irish boxer of the year

- World fight of the year

- Irish fight of the year

- Knockout of the year

- Funniest moment of the year

- World prospect of the year

- Irish prospect of the year

Let us know if you agree or disagree with our picks. Happy new year everyone.

Paul Quinn and I debate the Top 10 greatest comebacks in boxing history. We cover fights in which boxers come back from the brink of defeat to snatch victory, fighters who avenged defeats in rematches as well boxers who came back from long breaks to achieve great things. Do you agree with our selections? Have a listen and let us know what you think.

In this episode, I look back at the amazing John Breen stable of fighters from 1998-2019. I recap the early days above the Monaco Bar with champions such as Jim Rock, Eamonn Magee and Neil Sinclair. Who can forget some of the massive nights in John's career with Martin Rogan and Paul McCloskey during the mid 2000's. Other champions featured include Stephen Haughian, Kevin O'Hara, Andrew Murray, Jamie Conlan, Marco McCullough, Paddy Gallagher, Wayne Alexander and many more.