CORK’S SPIKE O’SULLIVAN will make his ring return on Saturday 16 March as he attempts to secure a world-title shot in his new division of light-middleweight.
O’Sullivan, 29-3 with 20 wins quick, will face hard-hitting local Khiary Gray [16-4, 12KOs] in an eight-round contest at the House of Blues in Boston.
Spike-Gray will be the co-main event to Murphys Boxing’s fourth instalment of their annual St Patrick’s Day Clash. The Massachusetts-based promotional company was founded by Dropkick Murphys lead singer Ken Casey in 2014.
O’Sullivan, who is co-promoted by Murphys and Golden Boy, rebounded from defeat to David Lemieux in Las Vegas last September with a points win over 40-fight Hungarian veteran Gabor Gorbics in Castlebar two months ago, on the undercard of Ray Moylette’s homecoming thriller with Christian Uruzquieta.
“Boston is a home away from home for me,” said Spike, who has fought in Beantown or its surrounding areas on no fewer than 10 occasions.
Murphys Boxing Saint Patrick’s Day events are not to be missed. The crowd is insane and I’m coming to give them what they wanna see… A fight!
O’Sullivan’s encounter with Gray falls between two huge nights for Irish professional boxing. On Friday 15 March, Katie Taylor [12-0, 5KOs] faces Rose Volante [14-0, 8KOs] in a world-title unification clash in Philadelphia before Dublin’s Jono Carroll [16-0-1, 3KOs] challenges hometown hero Tevin Farmer [28-4-1, 6KOs] for the IBF World super-featherweight title on the same Matchroom bill.
On St Patrick’s Day — the Sunday — former Olympic bronze medalist Michael Conlan [10-0, 6KOs] headlines again at the Hulu Theater in Madison Square Garden where he faces a career-best opponent in Ruben Garcia Hernandez [24-3-2, 10KOs].
Conlan’s former gym-mate and Irish amateur team-mate Jason Quigley of Donegal [15-0, 11KOs] is also in line to fight Stateside on the same weekend.
Subscribe to our new podcast, The42 Rugby Weekly, here:
