WATCHING a bill at the Ulster Hall should be on every fight fan’s bucket list. For raw atmosphere you can’t beat the Bedford Street bear pit and the famous Belfast coliseum is unsurprisingly almost sold out for the upcoming February 1 battles.
A card jammed with quality scraps includes John Cooney’s defence of his Celtic Super-Featherweight title in a ‘crossroads’ British title eliminator against Wales native Nathan Howells (10-1-1).
Cooney won the Celtic title in 2023 and says it feels like “forever ago”. He intends to win and style and kick on to a British title in the summer.
“Howells is a good fighter,” he said.
“He’s got a good jab and he’s going to come to win because it’s a big opportunity for him with it being a British title eliminator as well. It’ll be a good fight but I know my hand will be raised.
“I believe I’m the better fighter and he won’t be able to deal with me. I’ll show that I’m a level above and I’m already at that British level and I deserve my shot.
“I did well winning the Celtic title, but I feel like I need to remind people how good I really am and this is a good fight to do that against a guy who is going to come to win and make me look better.”
Howells picked himself up off the canvas four times when he fought for the Welsh title in 2023. He eventually lost on points but proved his fighting heart beyond doubt and bounced back with two decision wins last year.
“I’ll hopefully get the British title in the summer,” said Stephen O’Rourke-trained Cooney who sparred with Zelfa Barrett in Manchester last week.
“I’ve got my eyes firmly set on that. Obviously I have to focus on Howells first but you always have to look ahead a little bit, that’s the aim of the game. I hope, God willing, I can get the winner of Bellotti and Gomez in the summer.
“I need to produce the goods in the ring and hopefully my manager Mark Dunlop can produce that for me.”
TEO Alin was 16 and in danger of going down the wrong path when Cookstown ABC opened up and turned his life around.
He admits he was “up to no good” with his mates who, like himself, needed something to do, somewhere to go in the evenings and once the club opened they all joined. Teo was voted least likely to keep it up but he’s preparing for his third fight as a professional at the Ulster Hall on February 1 and his old mates from Cookstown will be there to cheer him on.
“Before the boxing club opened up, to be honest I would have been up to no good with a few of my friends,” says East Timor-born Alin.
“A load of us joined the boxing club and they said I’d be the first one to quit it – now they’re all buying tickets to come and watch me fight!
“I wouldn’t say I got into much bother, but I was up to things I shouldn’t have been – smoking and drinking and all at only 15. Once the club opened up it changed everything and if it wasn’t for boxing I probably would still be at that so I’m thankful for boxing and the opportunities it has given me.”
Alin moved to Holy Trinity ABC in Belfast and devoted himself to winning an Ulster elite title. He came agonisingly close to fulfilling his dream but missed out on a series of debatable split decisions and, after losing to Rhys Owens last year, the former Celtic Box Cup champion decided the time had come to turn pro.
Managed by Pody McCrory, Alin has two wins under his belt as a professional and he had a lot of near misses during an amateur career that finished at Holy Trinity ABC in Belfast.
“It was very frustrating,” he said.
“Except for my last fight, every defeat in Ulster came by split decision. It was 3-2, 3-2, 3-2… I don’t think I lost those fights and it was hard to take but I’d say if I had won an elite title – an Ulster and an Irish title – I might have called it a day because I’d have been happy with that.
“But, because I’m an underachiever, I want to keep going and see how far I can go. It was probably meant to be and really I always wanted to go pro – I’d been thinking about it for four or five years – but I was always chasing that elite title.
“I didn’t get it so, chapter closed, and here I am and the support has been amazing.
“I’ve actually been blown away with it because I didn’t know I knew that many people!
“On my debut I sold 130-odd tickets and it was the same for my last fight and I’ve a lot of tickets sold for this one already. It’ll only get bigger I hope and I want to thank everybody for their support.”
Ulster Hall, February 1, live on BBC NI:
Featherweight: Colm Murphy (13-0) v Kasimu Hamad Haji (16-6-2)
BBBofC Celtic Super Featherweight title: John Cooney (11-0) v Nathan Howells (10-1-1)
Flyweight: Conor Quinn (9-1-1) v Ally Ngwando (10-2-2)
Super-bantamweight: Jack O’Neill (2-0) v TBC
Lightweight: Charles McDonagh (1-0) v Karl Sampson (7-43-1)
Super-featherweight: Teo Alin (2-0) v Brayan Mairena (15-53-1)
Welterweight: James Freeman (3-0) v TBC
Flyweight: Tiana Schroeder (1-0) v TBC
DONAGH Keary will make his professional debut at Madison Square Garden, New York on March 16.
The talented youngster from Castlewellan, who came through the ranks at Rathfriland ABC, is training with Ryan Burnett and will appear on the St Patrick’s weekend card alongside Thomas Carty, Feargal McCrory, Emmet Brennan v Kevin Cronin and Callum Walsh.
He is the first professional to come out of Rathfriland ABC (which came and went over the years but is now firmly established in the town) since former Northern Ireland champion George Lavery turned over back in 1954.
“When Donagh walked into the club at 12 years of age I knew he had something,” said Rathfriland coach Bobby Lavery.
“He started at East Down ABC and it was really logistics that took him to our club. East Down started training earlier than us and by the time his dad Sean got home from work he was late getting there. It just suited better with timings and he wasn’t in our club two or three months that I knew rightly he was going to be good ‘un.
“He progressed, he won his first Irish title at 14 and we have high hopes for him.
“There’s plenty of miles in him, he’s got a bit of charisma and a really good pro style so I do believe he can go a long way in the game.”