Tales from the Ring

Current Celtic and Commonwealth Silver Flyweight champion, Conor Quinn chats to me about his boxing journey to date. The former Clonard ABC boxer won 7 Irish titles as an amateur and represented Ireland around the world at senior level. Conor decided to move across the world to Australia in 2019 to turn professional and would win his first 2 pro contests before COVID struck. A move back home was soon on the cards in 2021. Under new manager, Mark Dunlop plans were in place to unleash Conor to his home fans before disaster struck. Conor failed a routine brain scan after tests discovered he had had a stroke without ever knowing. After months of tests, he was told a hole in his heart was the reason for this and immediate surgery was needed. Conor would come through this ordeal and finally begin the next chapter in his professional career. He is now undefeated in 10 contests and has recently signed a promotional deal with Frank Warren’s, Queensbury promotions. Big title fights will hopefully be on the horizon in 2024 and beyond.

Kaci Rock chats to me about how she got started in boxing at only 6 years of age. Kaci is the daughter of Irish boxing legend, Jim Rock and its fair to say he was not all for her getting into boxing initially. When it was clear boxing was not just a faze and she had the minerals to become a fighter, he is now of course her biggest supporter. Kaci also chats about the early days as an amateur and how Katie Taylor was always a big inspiration, even giving her some old boxing gear to use from time to time. Kaci eventually started to see her hard work pay off and would go on to win 7 Irish titles at various levels. She would win an Irish elite title in 2021 and then claim a European bronze medal at the U22 championships in 2022. Kaci has recently just missed out on being selected for the Olympic qualifiers in 2024 and talks about her plans for the future. Outside of boxing Kaci is not your typical boxer. She has various other interests and is balancing her studies at university alongside her boxing career. Something tells me we might be hearing more from Kaci both inside and outside of the ring.

Stephen Haughian chats to me about growing up in Lurgan and his start in amatuer boxing. We discuss his early days at the famous John Breen gym in Belfast training along side the many champions in the gym including Neil Sinclair, Eamonn Magee, Jim Rock and Paul McCloskey. We focus on some of his title fights including the very controversial points defeat to Giammario Grassellini for the IBF International title as well as the defeat to Kevin McIntyre for the Celtic title. Stephen also talks about his joy at finally winning an Irish title in front of his home fans in 2009. Stephen explains his reasons for walking away from boxing 3 years later at only 28 years of age with a record of 21-3-1 after becoming disillusioned with the sport. We finally find out how life has been since he retired from professional boxing.

Luke chats to me about growing up in Dublin and how he got started in boxing. We talk about his amateur days mixing with some great boxers from that era in the Irish Middleweight division. Luke was able to balance his boxing career with his education as he would go to university and become a qualified engineer. He would later turn professional at 26 and after winning fights early on, would have a set back after losing a WBC International contest to Tom Doran. Luke would bounce back and go on a great run winning Irish, Celtic and WBO European titles. Great victories against Conrad Cummings and Luis Arias would set up the opportunity to challenge for the WBO world title in America. Luke would come up short against the quality, Demetrius Andrade in Miami after putting up a brave performance. After a 3 year break from the ring, he is now fresh off a victory and at 36 feels there is still something left. Luke is now preparing for his next fight on March 16th in Galway and is hoping for one last big fight before the career is done.

Ray Moylette chats to me about his start in boxing growing up in County Mayo. We go through his illustrious amateur career which included countless Irish titles at various levels. We chat about the massive highs points of claiming gold medals at the World Youth and European senior championships. We also talk about some of the difficult times that followed these successes. Ray has boxed professional since 2017 winning 13 contests , but it’s fair to say there have been frustrating times on this journey. Ray is now determined to have one last dance and is fully focused on an upcoming fight in front of his home fans on St. Patrick’s day. The final chapter of Ray’s boxing career is yet to be written.

Donagh Keary chats to me about his boxing journey to date. The Rathfriland ABC boxer has won 3 Irish titles including the Irish senior and U-22 titles in 2023. He is fresh off representing Ireland at the European championships in Montenegro and has his sights set on major medals in the future. We chat about sparring professional world champions at the Wildcard gym in America as well as which fighters are his favourites to watch. Donagh also tells me his immediate plans for 2024. Something tells me this will not be the last we hear from Donagh.

Paul Griffin is one of Ireland’s greatest amateur boxers ever. The former European senior champion talks me through his boxing journey. We chat about his early days at Drimnagh ABC and how he progressed to win an unbelievable 12 Irish national titles at every level. We focus on his success at the European championships in 1991 and 1993 where he would win gold and bronze medals respectively. Paul also talks about his Olympic disappointment in Barcelona back in 1992. He would then go on to box 30 times as a professional boxer including countless contests in Australia and win 25 contests. Paul also opens up about his problems with addiction and mental health over the years. Paul is someone that has shown great resilience and is proving to be a fighter both inside and outside of the ring.

Niall Kennedy is a former amateur and professional boxer from County Wexford. He had a very successful amateur career winning countless Leinster titles as well as the Irish Intermediate title. He was also an Irish elite finalist in 2013 and boxed in a great era of super-heavyweights in Ireland. Niall has worked as a police officer in the Garda for many years and won gold medals in tournaments around the world including the World Police and Fire Games. Niall turned professional at 31 years of age with his coach, Pascal Collins in 2015 and enjoyed early success on the east coast of America. He would claim US State titles in Massachusetts and New England against good opposition and would at one stage remain undefeated in 14 contests. Niall opens up about how he had to overcome prefight nerves and bipolar disorder during his career and how two defeats at the end of his career were hard to overcome. A devastating failed brain scan would signal the end of Niall's career in 2020 and his mental health would suffer for a time. Niall is now a mental health activist and has recently launched the program "NBK Survival Training". This program uses group training and open speech presentations to facilitate people with the tools and knowledge which can have a positive impact on their overall well-being. Listen to Niall's journey to date on this weeks podcast.

Paul Quinn joins me to chat about some of the big stories from this month in boxing. We review this past weekend's Matchroom card at the Ulster Hall which included Paddy Donovan, Tommy McCarthy and Lewis Crocker. We analysis the recent big world title fights between Natasha Jonas and Mikeala Mayer as well as Arthur Beterbiev and Callum Smith. Finally we debate the question "Is AJ v Francis Ngannou good for boxing?"