BOXING’S most famous belt will take pride of place in Holy Trinity Boxing Club.
Following on from David Irving’s appointment as referee for Katie Taylor’s farewell fight at Croke Park on Saturday night, a replica of the green World Boxing Council (WBC) belt was presented to the Turf Lodge club.
And, to mark the occasion, they even welcomed a special guest as former world champion Wayne McCullough – back home from Las Vegas – made an appearance on Tuesday night.
The ‘Pocket Rocket’ got his hands on the famous green belt when he travelled to Japan in 1995 and ripped the bantamweight world title away from hometown favourite Yasuei Yakushiji.
It has always held a special place in the hearts of boxing aficionados and WBC supervisor Kevin Noonan, who presented the replica belt, outlined why Holy Trinity was such a worthy recipient.
“A sensational evening with the city’s boxing community, honouring the gym’s rich history on behalf of the World Boxing Council, joined by champions and the club’s founders since 1972.
“The stories from Michael Hawkins and David Irving about the club and its people are fascinating.”
And legendary trainer Hawkins was delighted to welcome such distinguished figures to the club.
“This award from the World Boxing Council is a tremendous honour, and so too is David Irving’s appointment as referee for Katie Taylor’s final fight at a packed Croke Park.
“David has been involved in boxing for over 50 years. He’s put in the hard work and we’re delighted to see him recognised in this way.
“Holy Trinity is primarily an amateur boxing club, that continues to this day – just last month we had gold and silver medallists, and a quarter-finalist, at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, with great performances from Jon McConnell, Kaci Rock and Jansseen Hill.
“But down the years, many of our boxers have moved on to the pro ranks, usually based in full professional gyms in Ireland or England… one of the first guys to make the pro move was David Irving.
“Dee and Damien Fryers both switched in the early ’80s, and trained in the famous Barney Eastwood gym in Castle Street. Since then, dozens of Holy Trinity fighters have gone on to the pro ranks.
“And quite a few have featured in Irish, British, Commonwealth, European and World title battles. There are too many to mention but guys like Damaen Kelly and Brian Magee, Bernard Dunne stand out… the list goes on and on.
“In recent times, World champions Anthony Cacace and Lewis Crocker have been outstanding. Padraig McCrory too. And we have other fighters who have what it takes to be world champions, like Caoimhin Agyarko and Sean McComb – they just need a bit of luck. Conrad Cummings was another cracker.
“But that’s another roll of honour project for our president and secretary to compile some day, as we accept this WBC award on behalf of David Irving and our team of coaches and officials.
“Our Holy Trinity team put the effort in, day in, day out – they’re the key to our success, and they’re all volunteers too. Every single one of them deserve great credit.”