As far as co-promoter Pat Magee is concerned, the controversy instigated by Kiko Martinez – ahead of his tilt at Bernard Dunne’s European super bantamweight title at the Point in Dublin on 25 August – is now closed.
Martinez’s camp lodged a protest with the European Boxing Union (EBU) last weekend complaining about the “neutrality” of the referee and three judges (all of whom are British) for the eagerly awaited showdown. However, Magee, who is co-promoting the clash along with Brian Peters and Ricky Hatton’s promoter Denis Hobson, has spoken with Martinez’s camp and the issue appears to have been resolved.
Terry O’Connor has been chosen as referee for the clash, while the three judges are John Keane, Ian John-Lewis and Mickey Vann. The quartet were selected by the EBU, although Spanish boxing chief Senor Gallante may now be installed as a supervisor for the fight.
Hobson and Belfast businessman Magee are also involved with Martinez in a promotional capacity. Magee said: “I spoke with Kiko and explained to his camp that the referee and judges are neutral as they are British and this is a fight between an Irishman and a Spaniard.
“Martinez’s people wanted more of a continental involvement in the referring and judging side of things. But without going too much into it, I am confident that this matter is now closed and we can all look ahead to what should be a fantastic boxing match.”
Dunne is presently in training under coach Harry Hawkins at the Holy Trinity club in Belfast and has just finished up a week’s sparring with English champ Rocky Dean. Hawkins is confident that Dunne will be in excellent shape for the fight.
He said: “Everything is going according to plan and Bernard got some excellent sparring done with Rocky Dean and we have a new sparing partner coming in next week. Bernard will have the height and reach advantage against Martinez and he will be in top shape and confident going into this fight.
“It is going to be a tough bout, but I put it this way, if I had the choice I wouldn’t be trading corners with Martinez for this one.”
Unbeaten Dubliner Dunne (27) will be targeting his 25th victory at the Point, while undefeated Martinez will be hoping to chalk up his 17th win on the trot.
On the undercard, Belfast’s Brian Magee will challenge Tony Oakey for his British title, and Limerick southpaw Andy Lee, now boxing out of the Kronk Gym in Detroit, will make his pro debut in Ireland on the night.
Meanwhile, Latvian Sergejs Savriniovs, who has won four, drawn one, and lost two of his seven fights, has been confirmed as Belfast light middleweight Neil Sinclair’s opponent for his appearance at City Hall in Cork on 18 August.
Irish light heavyweight champ Jason McKay, Billy Walsh, Patrick Hyland and Declan Timlin will also box on the City Hall card.
Women’s World lightweight champ Katie Taylor is aiming to cast a spell over her opponents at the Witch Cup, one of the most competitive women’s boxing tournaments in the world, which began in Hungary this week.
The back-to-back European champion reckons that last week’s international training camp at the National Stadium in Dublin was ideal preparation for the event. Women’s squads from Ireland, Great Britain, Holland, Finland and Sweden were involved in the first camp of its kind to be held in Ireland, organised by the IABA women’s boxing development officer Anja Norman and coaches Peter Taylor and Pat Ryan.
Taylor won gold and the boxer of the tournament award at last year’s Witch Cup, and served notice that she won’t be relinquishing her title with a convincing win over Sandra Brugger at the Bray Boxing club on Sunday week last.
The St Fergal’s Bray ace will also be going for a hat trick of European titles in Denmark in October, and the world’s number one lightweight is well prepared.
“I’m looking forward to defending the gold medal I won at the Witch cup last year and also defending my European title and I will be confident going into both tournaments,” she said. “However, I won’t be taking anything for granted as there some very talented boxers coming through.
“I was impressed with the Russian boxer Elena Saveleva in Turkey at few months ago. I stopped her in round two, but she is a very technical southpaw and she is learning all the time, so it just goes to prove that you cannot afford to be complacent at this level.”
