Katie Taylor took to the ring on Sunday night for the second time in 72 hours, this time before a crowd of 3,000 at a packed Bord Gáis Energy Theatre in an evening put together by Brian Peters Promotions.
Taylor was the main draw but there was plenty on offer by way of ‘box-ertainment’ to promote the sport in a broader context with nine other bouts featuring U12 all the way through to Olympic medallist Paddy Barnes.
With tickets costing an average of €50 this was a big crossover event and drew as mixed an age group audience as you would find at any inter county GAA match throughout the country.
There was naturally a strong contingent from the boxing community with Bray Boxing Club and Crumlin Boxing Club providing many of the fighters on the undercard as well as much of the noisy support in the auditorium.
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[ismember]There was a strong entertainment factor in putting the event together and big screens showed a number of interviews and video features on Taylor in breaks between the bouts. These included the Irish Sports Council backed ‘Journey’ films produced by Atomic Sports and gave great insight to the hard work that goes in away from the ring in order that stars can peak on the day.
Raw Edge Crew performed a hip hop blend of boxing moves allied to a unique Riverdance montage that had the crowd on their feet.
The evening will be repeated on March 22nd though an opponent has yet to be named for the main event.
Last night German Champion Meike Kluners provided the opposition and won the hearts of many with a spirited performance on the canvas as well as on the microphone.
Sports promotion is all about getting the right mix between what happens between the whistles or in this case the bells.  Last night worked in terms of bringing amateur boxing to a wider audience and it is hoped that those probable 50% of the audience who had never seen live boxing before will have left with a hunger for more.[/ismember]