Magee attack linked to IRA 'enforcer'

[bennie]

THE thug who led the savage attack that ended the career of Belfast boxing world champion, Eamonn Magee, is a top Provo enforcer, Sunday Life can reveal.
The man, who lives in the Dunmurry area, has a reputation as a feared IRA hardman.
He led the gang who beat the boxer with pickaxe handles, over a personal dispute between the pair that's been simmering for months.
Despite reports the boxer had refused to speak to police, Magee is understood to have given a statement naming the man who led the attack.
It is believed he told cops the attack followed a dispute between himself, and a man from the Dunmurry area. That bitter row is believed to have begun, due to a dispute between children. According to Magee's lawyer, Aiden Deery, the boxer was trying to end the dispute.
"Eamonn, I understand, was trying to resolve the issue," he said.
But the row exploded last Sunday, when Magee was bludgeoned by a number of men, after the car in which he was a passenger was forced to stop, on Black's Road.
The WBU welterweight champion suffered a broken leg and punctured lung.
He has since been told by medical experts that he will never box again.
Said Mr Deery: "This appears to be a premeditated attack, where Eamonn's car was purposely stopped.
"If he'd been dragged from the car, he may well have been killed."
Sunday Life understands that, a short time earlier, there had been an angry exchange in the street, involving Magee and the top Provo.
Magee has dismissed claims the IRA attacked him in relation to the attempted abduction of dissident republican, Bobby Tohill, from Kelly's Cellars.
It is believed that Magee was in the pub at the time of the attempted abduction.
And it had been claimed that, at one stage, Magee had jumped to the dissident republican's defence, but was warned off by Tohill's attackers.
But Magee's lawyer dismissed his presence in Kelly's Cellars as a coincidence, and that the attack was over a personal dispute.
A police spokesman last night said no one has yet been arrested in connection with the attack.
Last week's attack was not the first time that Magee has experienced violence outside the ring, at the hands of IRA members.
In November 1992, he was shot in the leg by a Provo 'punishment' squad.

By Ciaran McGuigan

[glittermonkey]

What a coward. If he was a real hard man he wouldn't have needed a gang armed with pick-axe handles.
I hope he gets exactly what he deserves.

[MightyWarrior]

In November 1992, he was shot in the leg by a Provo 'punishment' squad.

By Ciaran McGuigan

Is that a fact? I hadn't heard that one before...

[bennie]

In November 1992, he was shot in the leg by a Provo 'punishment' squad.

By Ciaran McGuigan

Is that a fact? I hadn't heard that one before...

The Magees are a well known Belfast family, who have always lived right in the heart of sectarian Belfast. The writer clearly knew his stuff, so we have to assume Eamonn was shot 12 years ago. It would certainly explain why he didn't get the Barcelona Olympic berth (Magee claims he wasn't selected due to bias) and why he didn't turn pro till some time after.
http://www.maxboxing.com/News/newslinks.asp

[Loynesy]

Bennie et al

I thought the punishment attack of 12 years ago was widely known?

I don't wish Magee any harm but friends of mine in Belfast tell me he is fairly well-known in the pubs of Belfast and most of the stories don't make pleasant listening.

[bennie]

Bennie et al

I thought the punishment attack of 12 years ago was widely known?

I don't wish Magee any harm but friends of mine in Belfast tell me he is fairly well-known in the pubs of Belfast and most of the stories don't make pleasant listening.

Tell us more.

[bennie]

A motor mechanic today denied carrying out the savage beating which has left world boxing champion Eamonn Magee’s career in ruins.
Magee, 32, has accepted he will probably never fight again after he was allegedly hammered with a pickaxe handle during an attack in Belfast which left him with a broken leg and punctured lung.
But magistrates heard today that Joseph Clarke, 52, has provided detectives with an alibi for the time when the assault took place.
Wearing a long black leather jacket, Clarke smiled at friends as he appeared in the dock at Lisburn, Co Antrim to face three charges.
He is accused of grievous bodily harm on Magee during the alleged beating last week.
Charges of possessing a 3ft baton and damaging a black Volkswagen Golf car belonging to a Joe O’Neill have also been made against him.
Magee, originally from the Ardoyne area of north Belfast, was allegedly beaten after the car in which he was a passenger was intercepted near the west of the city last Monday.
The fighter, who won the WBU welterweight title in Cardiff late last year had been preparing for a major fight next month.
But as he recovered in hospital the former Commonwealth light welterweight champion and world junior silver medallist nicknamed the “terminator” admitted he probably would never be able to get in the ring again.
Detective Constable Brian Mills told the court that Clarke, of Lagmore Dale, west Belfast, replied: “Definitely not” to all three charges.
But the officer insisted that he could connect him with the offences.
A lawyer for the accused said his client strenuously denied the charges and would be applying for High Court bail tomorrow.
He added: “He has provided police with an alibi and also an account of his movements at the time of the incident. “
Mr Clarke was remanded in custody until March 30.

[shakermaker]

didn't Magee get stabbed in the neck over a cigarette in a fish n chip shop as well a few years back?

I don't know what to make of this, Belfast is a city like no other.