Olympic gold medalist Michael Carruth will be the special guest at a boxing tournament in Galway on November 14.
Carruth will attend the first anniversary celebrations of St Michael’s Boxing Academy which takes place at the Black Box Theatre. All proceeds from the evening are being donated to the Galway Hospice.
Carruth, a southpaw Irish Olympic boxer from Dublin, won the welterweight gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, and he will join a host of guests, including the Mayor of Galway, Michael Crowe, to celebrate the club’s first major tournament.
St Michael’s, based in the Liosbaun Industrial Estate, was formed a year ago and now boasts 60 members from seven years of age. The club is run on a volunteer basis with three qualified coaches and three assistants on a three-day week programme.
Club president Jim Sweeney says St Michael’s is more than just a boxing club.
“It’s about teaching people to have a better quality of life, being anti-drink and drugs, and promoting healthy living. Children can learn about discipline, self defence, self control and self confidence, and child protection and first aid are important elements of our club,” he says.
The club offers its facilities at basic rates with three-day boxing programmes costing €5, and club membership €20 a year.
The evening will feature up to 20 bouts with boxers from Drimnagh, Sligo, Crumlin and Galway county also featuring on the programme.
An auction will also be held on the night with a signed jersey from the Ireland’s Beijing Olympic squad that included Ken Egan, Darren Sutherland, John Joe Nevin, and John Joe Joyce. Local man Eddie O’Loughlin will have his head shaved during the event, and a DJ will round off the night of celebration.
Tickets to the event cost €10 and are available from Ticketmaster, the Town Hall Theatre. Doors open on the night a 6pm with the first bout scheduled for 6.30pm.
