Irish Weekend Boxing:
Belfast Belters Bruise Harrowgate Again

Michaela Walsh from Belfast, Ireland
	Holy Family’s Upton Brothers from Belfast, Ireland
	Harrowgate Boxing Club from Philadelphia, PA

They threw two colleens into the mix this year, but the outcome of the Irish Weekend boxing matches between Philly’s Harrowgate Boxing Club and the Holy Family squad from Belfast was that the Irish took eight out of the ten fights, the same number of wins they scored in the first two years of the popular kickoff to what is being called North Wildwood’s Irish Mardi Gras.

While the outcome was the same this year, a new wrinkle was that the first bout at 126 pounds was between Holy Family's Michaela Walsh and Harrowgate's Kelly Ryan, two young women who had the map of the Emerald Aisle firmly traced on their unmarked faces. Kelly Ryan, it should be noted, has worked at Fishtown's 15th Round, 430 Belgrade Street, owned and operated by the estimable Billy Abel, Sr., himself a one-time professional pugilistic.

Even though Ms. Walsh spent a great deal of time bouncing up and down, she was nonetheless able to land enough leather to garner the decision over Kelly Ryan, who later made a re-entry into the tent on Moore's parking in full glam regalia, showing that women boxers are ladies outside the ring.

The first Harrowgate victory was the evening's third encounter, this at 132 pounds, when Steve Ortiz took the duke over Anthony Upton, one of the four fighting Upton brothers on the Holy Family squad. Both kids were fast, but young Ortiz was quicker. Billy Abel, Jr., who had 15 pro fights himself, remarked, "The American kid knows what he's doing."

Harrowgate's David Weaver bested another Upton - James - in the next bout, this at 141 pounds, and it looked like the yanks had a chance at upping their victory total from the previous two years, but it was not to be as the Irish squad shut them out for the rest of the evening.

The evening's last fight was the most interesting from this corner. Fighting at 175 pounds for Harrowgate, but actually out of the Vineland TNT boxing club, Tony Romano showed a lot of pro moves, but in the amateurs that really doesn't count for much, and he lost a close decision to David Joyce.

It was another SRO show in what has become an Irish Week kickoff tradition. One slight criticism: the empty beer bottles being thrown into the trash cans by the bartenders sound an awful lot like the ring bell, and it would be a shame to see a fighter get clipped when he puts his hands down, thinking the bell had rung.

Other than that, can't wait until next year.

Slainte!