Hurlers to get the fight of their lives
Having faced some real tough battles in the last few years - relegation, Damian Fox's walkout, Niall Rigney after a poor performance - Laois senior hurlers will face the toughest test of them all this Saturday night when they face up to themselves in their Fight Night fundraiser.
The concept, which was initially scheduled to go ahead in early March only for it to be discovered the venue was double booked, has had a difficult beginning, but all the signs point to an entertaining night this Saturday.
It has been organised to help raise money for the Players Fund, and will take place in the Heritage Hotel this Saturday night, with doors opening at 8.45pm. Twelve of the senior hurling panel will don singlets and gloves on the night, with Brian Campion remaining on standby in case anyone picks up an injury during the round of club league games down for that evening.
As well as the six bouts involving the Laois hurlers, there will also be exhibition matches involving boxers from the Portlaoise Boxing Club, with local coach Pat Ryan also involved with the organisation of the event. Some of the local boxers will include European medallists, while there is also rumours floating around that Niall Rigney could take to the ring on the night too. There are surely people out there who would like to tackle the big Portlaoise man, but will anyone get in the ring with him??
There will be tickets available for the event at the door on the night, as well as from panel members and the Laois County Board offices, while there will also be raffle for signed gear and other prizes. There will be a guest MC on the night too, with music provided afterwards by The Jury.
With pairings for the night already decided on, here we take a slightly sideways preview of the six fights involving Laois players.
John 'Lighting Jack' Prior V John 'The Peril from Errill' Purcell
Two of the smallest men on the panel will get the night underway, and it promises to be an intriguing contest between the two. They have probably marked each other in training sessions dozens of times, but this fight is crucial for both, as it will decide who gets to slag who when they mark each other in training from now on.
Both men are quick so there should be plenty of punches thrown, but whether either can land a knockout blow is unlikely. Purcell has the weight advantage over Prior, which should count for something, so that tips the balance in his favour here.
Prediction: Purcell
Brian 'The Ginger Jackhammer' Stapleton V Eamon 'The Jackal' Jackman
Both men revealed some surprising 'facts' about themselves in their profiles which could have a bearing on how this fight plays out.
Firstly, according to Eamon Jackman, he's 6' 7", which would give him an advantage in terms of reach. Having stood beside him though, I'd have to say he hides that height well, so it remains to be seen if he can produce this height on the night. Stapleton claims he once beat up Matthew Whelan, so he obviously packs a punch.
Jackman recently spent some time in Africa, with the party line being that he had to go as part of his work as a teacher in Clongowes Wood secondary school. There are rumours, though, that he went over to do some warm-weather training ahead of the Fight Night. Can he translate that into the ring? This one could go to the wire, but Stapleton is the slightest of favourites
Prediction: Stapleton
Jimmy 'The Tsunami' Dunne V Colin 'The Nightmare' Delaney
Jimmy Dunne is promising to unleash a tsunami of fury on Colin Delaney in this one, so can the Camross man stand up to it?
Delaney has been out injured for the last month or so, so he comes into this fight fresh and ready to rumble. Dunne earned himself hero status earlier in the year when he struck the winning goal against Kilkenny in the Walsh Cup shield semi final, but any credit he earned up amongst his team mates with that strike will count for nothing on Saturday night.
Neither fighter could be said to be quick, so perhaps they will have to bide their time and wait for their chance to land a haymaker.
This one is hard to call, and to separate them it's going to come down to the nicknames. A tsunami is worse than a nightmare, so we'll go for Dunne in this one
Prediction: Dunne
Toms 'The Count of Monte Fisto' Burke V Darren 'The Ballacolla Brawler' Maher
The permutations of this one extend beyond the ring, with both players set to meet each other in the championship later in the year.
Toms Burke has gone on the record to say he has no intention of losing to a Ballacolla man, which would indicate he's supremely focussed coming into this fight. Maher has faced into some big men already this year on the hurling field, but how will he handle going toe-to-toe with Burke? Maher has it over Burke in terms of speed, but Burke is tough and will be able to take whatever is thrown at him.
Burke sounds like he's going to go for the knockout early, so we're going to back Maher to ride out the early storm and take it late on.
Prediciton: Maher
Brian 'Brian Boru' Dunne V John 'The Young Bull' Rowney
We're moving into the heavyweight section of the night now with these two, and this could be one of the highlights of the night.
As John Rowney alluded to in his profile, he hurls with Clonaslee St Manman's, so he has some previous fighting experience, which should stand to him here. On the other hand, Brian Dunne has six brothers so it's unlikely he's made it this far in life with a disagreement or two in his youth.
There isn't much to separate them in terms of height and weight, but we're leaning towards Rowney on this one, and he could just pip it.
Prediction: Rowney
Mick 'Macho Man' McEvoy V Shane 'Dazzler' Dollard
This one is getting top billing on the night, so there's plenty of pressure on both to produce some fireworks.
Last year Mick McEvoy was criticised for his temper, as he kept getting himself into yellow card trouble on the field. To his credit, he has improved this aspect of his play wonderfully this year, but that won't be much good to him on Saturday night. In short, the angry Mick McEvoy will have to come back out.
Dollard is a bit smaller than McEvoy, but he's just as tough and just as quick. Neither are likely to succumb to fatigue, so we're expecting this to be an all out battle from the first second to the last. This one will probably come down to a referees decision, and we're going to plump for McEvoy.
Prediction: McEvoy
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Saturday 04 February 2012
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