Running the rule over each fight on the Katie undercard
Dave Allen and Thomas Carty at The Helix, Dublin. Pic: ©INPHO/Gary Carr
Allen is a blunt Yorkshireman approaching the end of his career having stopped plenty while losing to the biggest hitters of his world like Dillian Whyte and Luis Ortiz and, more recently, Arslanbek Makhmudov and Filip Hrgovic.
Carty is on the comeback trail after suffering a freak ACL injury against Duane Calloway at Madison Square Garden last year and, unlike the soon-to-retire Allen, the Dubliner is looking for a win here to pitch himself further up the ladder.
Donovan didn’t have to take this fight given his status as next man up in the IBF division and he can’t afford what would be a shock loss here given he already has two ‘L’s on his report card after coming out second best against Lewis Crocker last year.
McKenna is someone the Limerick man knows well having sparred and even shared rooms with him in the past. Nine years older, the Belfast fighter has promised to scrap his heart out here after completing a full-on training camp in Philadelphia.
Bevan is a highly-rated Welsh boxer with a distinguished amateur CV. Unbeaten in his nine pro bouts so far, he knocked out the first eight of those opponents before Ryszard Lewicki took him to ten rounds for the first time, in Southampton, last May.
Brennan, whose house stands just 500 metres away from Croke Park, is undefeated in his six pro outings and he has promised the fancied Bevan a war of attrition in what many are talking up as a potential fight of the night.
The only other female bout of the evening and one that echoes the headline act in that McCann is a high-profile former UFC fighter while Doligala is a low-key figure whose last bout was held at Oldham Leisure Centre.
Many is the man and woman who has struggled to make the switch McCann has committed to, and she has spoken in detail of some of the technical differences and lessons learned, but this should be another positive step for Taylor’s English cousin.
The last time we saw Liverpool’s Joe McGrail was when he stopped Aaron Hayden in the fifth round with a brutal left to the body. It was a signal that the Matchroom fighter was back after a frustrating spell with injuries.
He puts his WBA Continental Gold title, and an unbeaten record over 14 bouts, up for grabs here against a Coleraine man who has won all of his seven. “He’s just the next fella in front of me,” said McGrail who is being pitched for greater things. We’ll see.
The promoter Brian Peters compared Olaniyan to none other than Muhammad Ali this week and the Dublin heavy expects great things of himself as well, even if he talks about it in the most erudite and polite of fashions.
Hudak is a Czech with six wins from eight fights who will be expected to go the same way as the three men Olaniyan has despatched already as a pro, another Czech Jan Bezouska crumbling to his power inside a minute on debut last January.
Another Dubliner, Flood is in the foothills of his pro career after the dissolution of the 75kg division from the Olympics brought that dream to a premature end. How green is he at this level? Well, he’s only boxed nine rounds so far.
His debut came on a high-profile St Patrick’s card last March at the 3 Arena and Jack Swallow shouldn’t slow him up much, the Englishman having won only four of his 13 pro bouts and losing his last ten on the spin.
The show opener. Gallagher is back boxing in 2026 after a six-and-a-half year absence from the ring. Now 37, he has promised a contest between an aggressive, all-action fighter and a slick counter-puncher.
Ryan is ten years younger than the 2010 Commonwealth champion and Eddie Hearn took a liking to him as soon as he saw the swagger of his ring walk. The Blanchardstown fighter has described this as a crossroads moment for both of them and that he’ll walk the walk again.
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