{"id":853791,"date":"2026-08-13T13:02:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T13:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/853791\/"},"modified":"2026-08-13T13:02:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T13:02:09","slug":"mckenna-boxing-success-to-be-celebrated-at-homecoming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/853791\/","title":{"rendered":"McKenna boxing success to be celebrated at homecoming"},"content":{"rendered":"

World Middleweight Champion Aaron McKenna and his brother Stevie will be honoured at a homecoming reception in Monaghan town following their wins in Dublin last Saturday night.<\/p>\n

The McKenna brothers are set to take to the stage sometime after 7pm, with a large crowd expected to turn out.<\/p>\n

It comes as Aaron, 27, claimed the International Boxing Federation (IBF) world middleweight title after beating Italian Etinosa Oliha by unanimous decision in the 3Arena.<\/p>\n

It was his first professional fight on Irish soil, with his record now standing at 22-0.<\/p>\n

Stevie, 29, also recorded an emphatic win on the night, knocking out Owen O’Neill in the first round of his bout.<\/p>\n

The pair from the village of Smithborough are trained by their father Fergal, who moved with them to the US when they were teenagers as they chased professional careers.<\/p>\n

Read more: Aaron McKenna shines to become world champion on homecoming<\/a><\/p>\n

Speaking ahead of tonight’s event, Cathaoirleach of Monaghan County Council, Councillor Aidan Campbell said the pair have brought “immense pride” to the county.<\/p>\n

“Their dedication, determination and achievements on the international stage have inspired people throughout our county and beyond.<\/p>\n

“We are especially proud that this success story has strong roots in communities across Monaghan, including Castleblayney through their mother’s Carville connection.<\/p>\n

“We are delighted to welcome them home and to recognise their success with this special civic reception.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"World Middleweight Champion Aaron McKenna and his brother Stevie will be honoured at a homecoming reception in Monaghan…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":853792,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,85],"class_list":["post-853791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boxing","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/853791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=853791"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/853791\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/853792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=853791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=853791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=853791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}