Home, Irish Shop, Product Overview, Irish Clothing, Irish Grandfather Shirts, T Shirts and Tops, Sweat and Rugby Shirts, Boxer Shorts and Socks, Baseball Caps, Irish Clothing Accessories, Irish Knitwear, Celtic Jewelry, Irish Music ,Irish Books & Posters,Irish Giftwear, Irish Food, Irish Whiskey & Liqueurs, Guinness Merchandise, St. Patricks Day, Holidays in Ireland, Special Offers, Picture Gallery, Handweaving, Celtic Belts and Buckles, Irish Pubs, Irish Home Interior, Irish Cosmetics, News, Our Irish Shops, Newsletter, FAQ, General Terms and Conditions of Trade, Links, Impressum, Readers respond to McCullough's views on Irish Amateurs, October 7th, 2003 Visitors to the site have weighed in with their views on Wayne McCullough's recent criticism of the current I.A.B.A coaching structure. Read on to see what they had to say! I trained with Nicholas Cruz and found him very good, I think that he brought a lot to Irish boxing and showed us that there was no big secret behind the Cuban success over the past decades. They were good because they had perfect conditioning and had perfect practice. (Perfect practice makes perfect). He emphasised technical and skills training and this makes up a huge part of boxing nowadays. Wayne McCullough is one of the fittest athletes I have ever seen and I would love to take part in some of his training sessions. The Irish boxers will find it very hard to qualify for Athens but I wish them all the best. If it was easy everyone would be doing it. David Conlon, Irish Amateur Champion at Youth, Junior and Intermediate level as well as a National Senior Finalist and participant in last years Golden Gloves championships. A McCullough/Cruz partenership will be the dream team for irish amateur boxing! Coach to the Irish Amateur Boxing Association Martin Somers, former manager of John Lowey and Martin O' Malley I think anybody with the wealth of experience between Wayne McCullough and Nicholas Cruz Hernandez would be the best thing for Irish boxing. If Wayne's comments cause a stir with the I.A.B.A. that's their problem. The truth can sometimes hurt. If these two guys were willing to put the amount of energy and time required to try and put Irish boxers among the best in world, I think the association should seriously listen to what they think, and act accordingly. Wayne has been there and is still doing it and Nicholas has proved he is a great trainer. I think they would be a natural Dream Team for the Irish Team. Boxing has brought the most Olympic medals for Ireland...........lets have some more!
Derek, Dublin
Definitely Cruz and McCullough would be great for Irish Amateur Boxing. They could bring them in as part of the High Performance Scheme. They are both real students of the game and would not be afraid to make big changes to fully utilise the undoubted amateur boxing talent in this country. Guys like Lee, Egan, Reynolds, Moore and some of the others are good enough to win medals in Athens.
Demo, Dublin I think there's no harm in the I.A.B.A. taking Wayne McCullough up on his offer. After all he has won an Olympic silver medal so having someone who's been there would be a huge boost to the team. As for Cruz I always wondered why he left anyway, he had got great results in his time here when the I.A.B.A. were run on a shoestring. Paul, Cork I think the new coaches like Gary Keegan should get more time. Results haven't been great but a lot of that has been down to bad decisions and unlucky draws in the big tournaments. I still think the likes of Andy Lee, James Moore, Kenny Egan and Alan Reynolds can qualify for the Olympics. I think what's happening with the amateur boxing association is that like the FAI they are trying to run things more professionally but with amateur administrators that is always difficult. I think that's where the problem will emerge in the long term. Sean, Dublin I don't see how McCullough could do this at the moment. He says he intends to keep boxing so who would train the Irish team when he's off training himself. I do think he should be brought in on a regular basis to talk to the Irish team though and then when he has retired bring him in as a coach. Anyone who has worked with Eddie Futch would have learned a lot that they can pass on to youngsters. Eamonn, London I always thought what happened Cruz was disgusting so I'd be all for bringing him back. Cyril, Dublin I think the Athens games are too close now to go messing about with the coaching staff but if we don't get any boxers there then there definitely needs to be changes and why not have McCullough and Cruz. Frank, BelfasT Six Irish boxers stake their claims today By Brendan Mooney SIX Irish boxers will looking for a share of the limelight at the world boxing championships today.Three of them will be in action in this morning's session with Corkman, Michael Roche (Sunnyside) hoping to reinforce his interest in the tournament. His coach, Kieran Joyce, himself a former two time Olympian and European bronze medallist, will travel up this morning to be in his corner, something that pleases the Sunnyside southpaw no end. Roche said he was quite happy with the draw which gave him a first round appearance against Anatoli Kavtaradze of Georgia this morning. "I am happy with the draw. I boxed a Georgian last year in the Olympic qualifiers. It is not the same guy but they all come forward and hopefully this one will too and that will suit me," he said. "And I won't make the same mistake as I did in Sydney. I will let him come forward. I am feeling great right now. Last year I trained on my own while this year I am training with a team and that makes a huge difference. "I have had some great spars both with our own boxers and with the boxers from the UK who came to the training camp at the NCTC in Limerick. It was a different level altogether. All went well for us." The winner of this contest will then box either Matthew Thirwall of England or Echemendia Austin of Cuba for a place in the quarter finals. National lightweight champion, Noel Monteith (Dockers, Belfast), will be assured of a big hometown following when he makes his world championships debut this morning. The 23-year-old southpaw claimed his place in the team when he outpointed the experienced Dundalk lightweight, Eugene McEneaney, for his first senior title. John Paul Campbell created something of a sensation when he outpointed the US champion, Ron Siler, at the National Stadium last month but the American is at the other end of the draw here. So far, it has been an unhappy tournament for the Americans. One boxer went out at the scales on Sunday morning while four of the five in action up to last night were beaten. Campbell meets Roman Pavlenkov of Estonia this morning and the teak tough Meathman is all set to make a winning debut. Cork super heavyweight Eanna Falvey is in action tonight against Alexander Povetkine of Russia. The Cloyne man, who boxes out of the St. Colman's club in Shanagarry and is a doctor at the Regional Hospital in Limerick, is the only boxer in the Irish team who does not hold a national senior title. But he has been national intermediate champion and has held the British and Irish universities heavyweight title in a career that was punctuated by a recurring knee injury that required surgery twice. He moved up to super heavy this season and still retains all the speed that made him a formidable heavyweight. He has the speed to handle most of the super heavyweights here. Kenneth Egan (Neilstown) had his first taste of a major championship at the world junior championships last year. Since then he has won the national senior title and, tonight, he faces Elawan Youssef of Denmark.
Countdown to Athens begins in earnest September 22nd, 2003 With the Athens Olympics now less than a year away is it realistic to expect that Ireland can add to its already impressive haul of boxing medals in the Greek capital? The "Sweet Science" has brought us more success than any other sport in the Olympics but we've had nothing to show for our efforts since Michael Carruth and Wayne McCullough enthralled the nation with their respective Gold and Silver medals back in 1992. Little was expected of the Irish boxing team sent to those games in Barcelona. Sure we knew we had the talent but the money simply wasn't there to back the kind of preparations required to compete with the top nations like the Cuban's, the American's and the emerging Eastern European countries. Almost twelve years later and what's changed? Everything and nothing really. While money is now flowing in to the sport at an unprecedented level there is no real expectation that the "Class of 2004" will be able to match the achievements of Carruth and McCullough. The recent World Championships in Thailand highlighted just how big an ask it will be to even qualify for the Olympics, never mind win any medals there. Following on from the success of the 2001 World Championships in Belfast it was expected that the event would become the foundation for further success for the islands boxers. Arklow's James Moore had secured a bronze medal in what was widely recognised as the best World Championship ever staged. This years championships in Bangkok were slammed for chaotic and sometimes shambolic organisation and only served to underline just how successful the Belfast event had been. It seemed that the summer of 2001 was about to signal the dawn of a glorious new era for Irish amateur boxing. With six of the twelve Irishmen who competed at the Odyssey Arena now in the top eight in their weight division, there was a lot to build on. Since then though success has proved elusive, this summer's disappointment in Thailand was preceded by a disastrous European and Commonwealth championships last year, which saw all bar one of the Irish boxers eliminated in the first round of the competition. Our best international result since Belfast remains Andy Lee's silver medal at the World Junior championships in Cuba last year. Our top performer in Thailand was Dubliner Kenneth Egan who repeated his achievements in Belfast by reaching the last eight in his weight category. Other than that though the trip to Bangkok proved fruitless. Theses recent results are particularly worrying at a time when there is more money available to the sport than ever before. The benefits of the Celtic Tiger economy allowed the to Government to finally reward amateur boxing in this country with the financial aid it richly deserved and the Irish Amateur Boxing Association were determined not to squander this badly needed windfall. Renovations to the National Stadium, long advertised as the World's only purpose built Boxing Arena finally brought the venue to a standard necessary for staging international events. The main investment though was in the establishment of the High Performance programme, which was setup to ensure that Ireland's medal haul at major championships continued. It's a system that has led to Ireland's Senior, Junior and Cadet squads getting access to world class training facilities and a set up comparable to that enjoyed by some of the worlds top boxing nations. It's also given the countries elite boxers the opportunity to train as full time boxers meaning that they can now dedicate themselves fully to their boxing career. The High Performance system has also given its participants access to support services like sports psychology and physiotherapy that previous Irish boxers could only have dreamed of.
While the system has yet to generate the kind of results that the I.A.B.A. would have hoped it has convinced talents like James Moore and Alan Reynolds to defer a switch to the pro ranks until after the Athens games. Perhaps had the High Performance system been introduced a couple of years earlier the I.A.B.A. might have been able to convince Bernard Dunne to stay on for the Athens games.
The problem now for the I.A.B.A. and the High Performance squad will be to ensure that we can at least match our achievements at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 when Michael Roche was our sole representative. Although the Cork light middleweight was eliminated in the first round he had at least negotiated the qualifying rounds. The same challenge will face the Irish seniors next year when they travel to Croatia for the European Championships, which will also represent the first chance to qualify for Athens. A semi final place in Croatia will guarantee an Olympic spot but the standard of competition is always high at the Europeans and Ireland's performance at last years event suggests that it will not be easy. There will be two more qualifying opportunities in March and April after which the Athens participant will be finalised.
Hopefully the fruits of the High Performance system will have come to bear by then however on current form it's hard to be too optimistic. Recent successes at the Commonwealth Boxing Championships by Ulster's Paul Baker and Martin Lindsay were a welcome improvement in fortunes but they have been over shadowed by the internal political bickering on the Ulster council which has damaged the morale of the sport there. Ultimately though it's activity inside the ring which should be the focus of the administrators attention and hopefully next months International tournament in Cork will go some way to restoring hope in the future of Irish Amateur boxing. Wins for our Olympic hopefuls like, Moore, Lee and Egan would give them a much needed boost as they knuckle down to a long hard winter. The future of Irish amateur boxing rests upon their young shoulders.
With the I.A.B.A. finally in a position where it can compete on a par with the rest of the world in terms of facilities and investment there is undoubtedly pressure on the High Performance system to deliver. The current roll call of Ireland's Olympic boxing medallists reads McNally, Caldwell, Gilroy, Byrne, Tiedt, McCourt, Russell, McCullough and Carruth men who could only have dreamed of the benefits the High Performance system offers. Meanwhile for the time being our current boxers can only dream about repeating the successes of our nine Olympic boxing medallists. Ireland's Olympic Medal Winners 1952 - John McNally (Bantamweight) - Silver 1956 - Johnny Caldwell (Flyweight) - Bronze 1956 - Freddie Gilroy (Bantamweight) - Bronze 1956 - Tony Byrne (Lightweight) - Bronze 1956 - Fred Tiedt (Welterweight) - Bronze 1964 - Jim McCourt (Lightweight) - Bronze 1980 - Hughie Russell (Flyweight) - Bronze 1992 - Wayne McCullough (Bantamweight) - Silver
1992 - Michael Carruth (Welterweight) - Gold Urban Wear, Urban Gear, Urban Fashion and Urban Clothing. These are the Buzz Phrases for the Trendy Clothing Worn by the Hip-Hop Generation.(PRLEAP.COM) Hip-hop clothing is very popular. Urban gear is just as popular in the suburbs as it is in the inner-city. Urban clothing crosses economic, social and cultural boundaries. This coincides with the cross-section of Americas youth which also listens to hip-hop music.Many of todays top hip-hop/rap artists have very successful lines of urban clothing and urban gear. Jay-Z has his "Rocawear" line, P Diddy has his "Sean John" and 50 Cent has "G-Unit" just to name a few.On Thursday, March 24th, BET will air "Rip the Runway", a television broadcast dedicated to Urban and Hip Hop Fashion. The show will be BETs first Urban and Hip Hop Fashion special. Hip Hop Fashion heavyweights such as Phat Farm, Sean John, and G-Unit will be showing off their newest fashion designs. Angel of Fashion: promotes fashion on the World Wide Web by providing a directory of sites and giving nifty awards -- it used to be much more well-kept (won by Sui Generis, Jigowat, and -ism) (rarely updated) Fashion Dig: explores 20th century fashion with a stylish mix of commerce and community Fashion Junkie: self-proclaimed style addict Dara explores the hippest shops in North America (rarely updated) Fashion Net: an industry innovator with links to designers' sites, magazines, and industry bulletin boards F. UK: fashion English-style: cheeky with lots of influence from street and club culture Hint Fashion Magazine: a constantly-evolving New York fashion magazine featuring fashion articles, interviews, parties, and a great gossip column The Look Online: fashion industry news, views, opinions, and more from New York Lucire: an online fashion zine with international flavor plus a section on street style Lumiere: a brilliantly-designed site which makes features innovative designers and photographers Vain: Seattle's superheroes of alternative hair styling and hair products Visionaire: the wonderfully shocked WWW home of the art/fashion magazine that is oh-so-chic only 2000 stylish individuals can ever get their hands on it Walter Van Beirendonck: Wild & Lethal Trash's freaked-out funk goes multimedia
O'Connell's Bar 2746 East 4th Street, Long Beach, CA 90814-1227, Los Angeles(562) 433-506Jimmy's Restaurant 201 South Moreno Drive, Beverly Hills, Los Angeles (213) 879-2394 Keegan's Pub 434 Marcelina Avenue, Torrance, Los Angeles (213) 879-2394 Killian's Pub & Grill 3944 Sepulveda Blvd., Torrance, Los Angeles (310) 373-1218 Molly Malone's 575 South Faifax Avenue,, Los Angeles (323) 935-1577 Tom Bergin's Tavern 840 S. Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles 323-936-7151TomBergins@excite.comThe Irish Times 3267 Motor Avenue, Los Angeles (310)-559-9648 Cross St: National BlvdLos Angeles Mulligan's Mad Hatter 10433 National Blvd., West Los Angeles, LosAngeles (310) 837-5245 Hermosa Beach Hennessey's Tavern 8 Pier Avenue, Hermosa Beach 310-372-5759 Huntington Beach O'Conner's Irish Pub 7561 Center Avenue, Huntington Beach (714) 899-9918 Laguna Niguel Patsy's Restaurant & Irish Pub 28971 Golden Lantern, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Niguel (714) 249-2604 Long Beach Tracy's Bar and Grill 5511 E. Spring St, Long Beach 562.421.1726 Cross St: Bellflower Blvd The Auld Dubliner 71 South Pine Ave., Long Beach 562 437 8300 Cross St: Ocean Blvd. Limericks Pub & Feastery 5734 e 2nd st, long beach 562-439-6507 Cross St: NaplesNewport Beach The Shamrock 2633 West Pacific Coast Hwy.,, Newport Beach (714) 631-5633 Muldon's Dublin Pub 202 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach (714) 640-4110 Shamrock 2633 West coast highway, newport beach 949-6315633 Novato Moylan's Brewery@Restaurant
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760-674-8225
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6/24/2005 KOTC - Warzone Sheffield, UK
6/12/2005 KOTC - San Jacinto San Jacinto, California
5/21/2005 KOTC - Red Rock New Mexico
5/7/2005 KOTC - Mortal Sins Primm, Nevada
4/16/2005 KOTC - Edmonton Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
4/15/2005 KOTC - Natural Disaster El Paso, Texas
3/26/2005 KOTC - First Blood New Mexico
3/20/2005 KOTC - Soboba San Jacinto, California
2/25/2005 KOTC - Payback Cleveland, Ohio
2/5/2005 KOTC - Uprising Albuquerque, New Mexico
2/4/2005 KOTC - Australia Australia
12/4/2004 KOTC - Hostile Takeover Acoma, New Mexico
11/20/2004 KOTC - Indiana Belterra Casino, Indiana
11/14/2004 KOTC - Revenge San Jacinto, California
10/29/2004 KOTC - Sunland Park Sunland Park, New Mexico
10/23/2004 KOTC - Dayton Dayton, Ohio
9/24/2004 KOTC - San Jacinto San Jacinto, California
8/28/2004 KOTC - New Mexico New Mexico
8/6/2004 KOTC 37 - Hitmaster San Jacinto, California
6/12/2004 KOTC 36 - Unfinished Business San Jacinto, California
5/15/2004 KOTC 35 - Albuquerque Albuquerque, New Mexico
2/28/2004 KOTC 34 - Ohio Canton, Ohio
2/20/2004 KOTC 33 - After Shock San Jacinto, California
1/24/2004 KOTC 32 - Bringing Heat Miami, Florida
12/6/2003 KOTC 31 - King of the Cage 31 San Jacinto, California
11/2/2003 KOTC 30 - The Pinnacle Pala Casino and Spa, California
9/5/2003 KOTC 29 - Renegades San Jacinto, California
8/16/2003 KOTC 28 - More Punishment California
8/10/2003 KOTC 27 - Aftermath California
8/3/2003 KOTC 26 - Gladiator Challenge New Mexico
6/29/2003 KOTC 25 - Flaming Fury San Jacinto, CA
6/14/2003 KOTC 24 - Mayhem Albuquerque, New Mexico
5/16/2003 KOTC 23 - Sin City Orleans Hotel Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada
3/23/2003 KOTC 22 - Steel Warrior Soboba Casino
San Jacinto, California
2/21/2003 KOTC 21 - Invasion Albequerque, New Mexico
12/15/2002 KOTC 20 - Crossroads Bernalillo, New Mexico
12/7/2002 KOTC 19 - Street Fighter San Jacinto, California
11/1/2002 KOTC 18 - Sudden Impact Silver Legacy Resort Casino, Reno, Nevada
10/19/2002 KOTC 17 - San Jacinto San Jacinto, California
8/2/2002 KOTC 16 - Double Cross --
6/22/2002 KOTC 15 - Bad Intentions San Jacinto, California
6/19/2002 KOTC 14 - New Mexico Santa Ana Star Casino, Bernalillo, New Mexico
5/17/2002 KOTC 13 - Revolution Silvery Legacy Casino
2/9/2002 KOTC 12 - Cold Blood Soboba Casino, California
9/29/2001 KOTC 11 - Domination Soboba Casino
San Jacinto, California
8/4/2001 KOTC 10 - Critical Mass California
6/23/2001 KOTC 9 - Showtime --
4/29/2001 KOTC 8 - Bombs Away Colusa Casino, Williams, California
2/24/2001 KOTC 7 - Wet and Wild --
11/29/2000 KOTC 6 - Road Warriors --
9/16/2000 KOTC 5 - Cage Wars Sobaba Casino, San Jacinto, California
6/24/2000 KOTC 4 - Gladiators Saboba Casino, San Jacinto, CA.
4/15/2000 KOTC 3 - Knockout Nightmare Sobaba Casino, San Jacinto, California
2/5/2000 KOTC 2 - Desert Storm Sobaba Casino, San Jacinto, California
10/30/1999 KOTC 1 - Bas Rutten's King of the Cage Sobaba Casino, San Jacinto, California
Friday, August 8, 2003
Cage combat
High Desert locals prepare to compete at King of the Cage event in Hemet
By MARK A. PEINADO/Staff Writer
Victorville After five fights, Frankie Bollinger has decided he will call it a career.
Photos by Scott Smeltzer/Staff Photographer
Above, Joe Stevenson, a former Silverado standout wrestler, left, and Tyson Johnson, the Unlimited Fitness sales manager and King of the Cage announcer, work on drills at Unlimited Fitness in Victorville. Below, Johnson, left, Stevenson, and Frankie Bollinger pose at Unlimited Fitness.
Five bouts may not sound like much but for the 37-year-old registered nurse, Bollinger has accomplished what he has set out to do compete as an athlete at a professional level.
Some might bring into question that combat fighting which is what Bollinger does along with a number of other High Desert athletes isn't really a sport, but try telling that to Bollinger.
"I just think it's the highest form of combat," Bollinger said. "It's a step more than wrestling. I always thought wrestling was the toughest sport but in cage fighting, there is so much more to learn. You have to know jujitsu and how to respond to different submissions. It's a tough transition."
Because of his advanced age, Bollinger took training quickly. It took a year before his first bout at age 35, and working out three-to-four hours a day.
"My first fight was everything I thought it would be. I dominated the fight and the referee stopped it. My second fight, I was up against an All-American wrestler and after a few minutes I gassed. After watching the tape, I was happy with my performance.
"It was a lesson. I knew how much I had to train and fight again."
The results have been mixed for Bollinger. He is 2-2 and will look to finish with an above .500 record on Sunday at the "King of the Cage" event at the Soboba Casino in Hemet.
But for Bollinger, cage fighting is more than wins and losses or winning championships, it's about competition.
"It's the ultimate sport," Bollinger said. "It's one-on-one, man against man."
Training Bollinger are former Silverado standout wrestler Joe Stevenson and Tedd Williams. Williams is an All-American junior college wrestler and judo champion who co-owns Unlimited Fitness with Bollinger and is the show's promoter. Stevenson is an assistant instructor.
"Wrestling was primary and (cage) fighting was secondary," Stevenson said. "I enjoyed wrestling more but I was better at fighting so I focused on the fighting."
Stevenson, a wrestler since he was 11, began training as a combat fighter when he was 13 with his stepfather Lance Smith, the Victor Valley College wrestling coach. He won his first pro fight at 16.
"It was very intense," Stevenson said about the fight. "It was the best drug I'd ever felt. There was so much adrenaline, I couldn't lose."
But there were losses and Stevenson takes them hard.
"I see it evolving and going global," said Johnson who wrestled at Norco High. "It's going to be awesome. More states are going to legalize it. It's already a worldwide known sport. I see it getting bigger than boxing.
"The money doesn't equal what we're doing but being one of the pioneers, I'm staying with it. But either way, I don't fight for the money. I'm a competitor, an athlete who enjoys what I do."
Johnson, Stevenson and Bollinger all incorporate different styles of combat to help them compete and win.
"I use my wrestling and boxing skills to get myself through," Johnson said. "Tedd Williams taught me conditioning is the biggest thing. It's a constant fight for 10 minutes straight. It's difficult."
