BoxRec

Wake up call wrote:

sligobhoy67 wrote:

Wake up call wrote:I train with Lee occasionally and can assure you that his injury is genuine. He twisted his knee while sparring and his leg is all bruised and black. He has been to physio several times to try and keep the fight on but has had to concede he is unfit to fight. He is gutted.

Andrew, when exactly did he injure it?

I believe it was last Saturday. He was going to fight anyway because he didn't want to let anyone down despite eveyone telling him not to. It turns out that the injury is more serious than first thought and physio told him not to bother a couple of days back.

sorry to keep pushing Andrew, especially on a public forum, but the rumour is that he didnt inform anyone of the injury until yesterday - the first question that I would ask is why didnt he inform the promotor so that they could have a replacement primed and ready to replace him in the eventuality that he had to pull out.

Its kinda fecked Fitzy up now!

sligobhoy67 wrote:sorry to keep pushing Andrew, especially on a public forum, but the rumour is that he didnt inform anyone of the injury until yesterday - the first question that I would ask is why didnt he inform the promotor so that they could have a replacement primed and ready to replace him in the eventuality that he had to pull out.

Its kinda fecked Fitzy up now!

Murtagh was aware of his withdrawal last Friday

I've heard that Ciaran Healy has stepped in to face Fitzgerald for the title

Burnt-Norton wrote:

sligobhoy67 wrote:sorry to keep pushing Andrew, especially on a public forum, but the rumour is that he didnt inform anyone of the injury until yesterday - the first question that I would ask is why didnt he inform the promotor so that they could have a replacement primed and ready to replace him in the eventuality that he had to pull out.

Its kinda fecked Fitzy up now!

Murtagh was aware of his withdrawal last Friday

I've heard that Ciaran Healy has stepped in to face Fitzgerald for the title

fair play to Ciaran!!

Ciaran always fancies his chances in against anyone so wont be short on confidence.

Deno1986 wrote:Maybe the fight can be rescheduled on one of Peters future cards.

I wouldn't hold your breath :P

Lee was hoping and praying that his knee would heal in time to go ahead with the fight. His decision to call the fight off was not made lightly.

For the record Lee offered to fight for free to get the fight because it meant so much to him.

He has trained extremely hard for this but unfortunately injuries happen.

I think you should all have a rethink and see how you would feel if it was you giving up a dream.

lozza wrote:Lee was hoping and praying that his knee would heal in time to go ahead with the fight. His decision to call the fight off was not made lightly.

For the record Lee offered to fight for free to get the fight because it meant so much to him.

He has trained extremely hard for this but unfortunately injuries happen.

I think you should all have a rethink and see how you would feel if it was you giving up a dream.

Instead a of "hoping and praying", how about lifting and dialling! Its sounds as they Ciaran is willing to fill the breach but what if their wasn't a hard fecker like Ciaran available to step in that was eligible for the Irish title. All it would have taken was a quick call to say "I'll fúcked me knee, I'm getting physio to sort it out, I really want the fight but I'm 50:50 and you might want to scout around for a replacement. I'll keep you updated and give you an answer within X days" - Tomas and Brian and intelligent and entirely reasonable man and, whilst not happy about it, would have accepted the situation and have been able put in place a contingency.

lozza wrote:Lee was hoping and praying that his knee would heal in time to go ahead with the fight. His decision to call the fight off was not made lightly.

For the record Lee offered to fight for free to get the fight because it meant so much to him.

He has trained extremely hard for this but unfortunately injuries happen.

I think you should all have a rethink and see how you would feel if it was you giving up a dream.

Murtagh withdrawing from fights at the last minute for the most trivial reasons (only to be seen fit and well days later) has happened far too often, so you can understand why people are sceptical. If this injury is as severe as he claims he will be incapacitated for some time so it will be interesting to see if he still takes part in his scheduled exhibition next month

'Dream' this is a man who walked out of a title fight at the weigh in over 12 ounces!!

slapbangwhallop wrote:Instead a of "hoping and praying", how about lifting and dialling! Its sounds as they Ciaran is willing to fill the breach but what if their wasn't a hard fecker like Ciaran available to step in that was eligible for the Irish title. All it would have taken was a quick call to say "I'll fúcked me knee, I'm getting physio to sort it out, I really want the fight but I'm 50:50 and you might want to scout around for a replacement. I'll keep you updated and give you an answer within X days" - Tomas and Brian and intelligent and entirely reasonable man and, whilst not happy about it, would have accepted the situation and have been able put in place a contingency.

Well said

To your first point about him being seen refereeing just days later - Referee's walk round the ring - NOT BOX!

The Oceana show is five weeks away yet and its only 3 2 minute rounds exhibition for charity for a 3 year old girl with cancer!!

Lee is completey house bound at the minute, he hasn't been on his feet at all, the pain is far to bad.

slapbangwhallop wrote:

lozza wrote:Lee was hoping and praying that his knee would heal in time to go ahead with the fight. His decision to call the fight off was not made lightly.

For the record Lee offered to fight for free to get the fight because it meant so much to him.

He has trained extremely hard for this but unfortunately injuries happen.

I think you should all have a rethink and see how you would feel if it was you giving up a dream.

Instead a of "hoping and praying", how about lifting and dialling! Its sounds as they Ciaran is willing to fill the breach but what if their wasn't a hard fecker like Ciaran available to step in that was eligible for the Irish title. All it would have taken was a quick call to say "I'll fúcked me knee, I'm getting physio to sort it out, I really want the fight but I'm 50:50 and you might want to scout around for a replacement. I'll keep you updated and give you an answer within X days" - Tomas and Brian and intelligent and entirely reasonable man and, whilst not happy about it, would have accepted the situation and have been able put in place a contingency.

feck sake, my speelin and grammor is terrable!

Burnt-Norton wrote:

slapbangwhallop wrote:Whilst I feel for Fitzy I wouldnt like to turn this into a opportunity to "Murtagh Bash" without hearing his side of the story.

Fair point

i saw murtagh today his knee is the size of a balloon this is a genuine injury as was the last one he is gutted to pull out of the fight and to win a irish title is his dream !!

bp1983 wrote:

Burnt-Norton wrote:

slapbangwhallop wrote:Whilst I feel for Fitzy I wouldnt like to turn this into a opportunity to "Murtagh Bash" without hearing his side of the story.

Fair point

i saw murtagh today his knee is the size of a balloon this is a genuine injury as was the last one he is gutted to pull out of the fight and to win a irish title is his dream !!

The injury isnt the query - everyone is willing to believe that a boxer might pick up an injury in training. What some people might have a problem with is the alleged disparity between the time the injury occurred and the time that the promoter and opposing fight were informed.

Why do I get the funny feeling that lozza and bp1983 is an injured Lee at home with his leg up and lap top, er, on his lap and Burnt-Norton is an annoyed Mrs. Fitrzgerald!

slapbangwhallop wrote:Why do I get the funny feeling that lozza and bp1983 is an injured Lee at home with his leg up and lap top, er, on his lap and Burnt-Norton is an annoyed Mrs. Fitrzgerald!

lol i can assure you me or lozza is not lee everybody is entitled to their opinion after all it is a forum its just knowing lee personally and is a good friend of mine and knowing how much this meant to him and as to weather or not lee left it too late thsats down to lee and the promotor

bp1983 wrote:

slapbangwhallop wrote:Why do I get the funny feeling that lozza and bp1983 is an injured Lee at home with his leg up and lap top, er, on his lap and Burnt-Norton is an annoyed Mrs. Fitrzgerald!

lol i can assure you me or lozza is not lee everybody is entitled to their opinion after all it is a forum its just knowing lee personally and is a good friend of mine and knowing how much this meant to him and as to weather or not lee left it too late thsats down to lee and the promotor

well its not just down to Lee and BPP - what about Fitzy and all the fans that bought tickets to see the fight as well!?

from irish-boxing.com

Healy replaces Murtagh in a bid to become 2 weight Irish Champ


Dublin's Anthony Fitzgerald is adamant that despite a late change of opponent he'll still be wrapping the Irish Super Middleweight title belt around his waist on Saturday night. Fitzgerald will now face former Irish Champ Ciaran Healy in one of 4 Irish title fights on this Saturday's Yanjing Fight Night at The National Stadium in Dublin..

The long anticipated Irish Lightweight title fight between unbeaten Cavan star Andy Murray and Dublin's Oisin “Gael Force” Fagan tops the bill but Fitzgerald believes that his clash with Healy will also have plenty of fireworks. Fitzgerald had been due to meet Lee Murtagh but the Leeds based Irishman withdrew from the bout for the second time in just over 2 months citing an injury and Healy didn't need to be asked twice to replace him.

“Ciaran's tough, strong and very experienced and he always comes to have a fight but that will suit me because I won't have to go looking for him,” said Fitzgerald. “I was disappointed to hear that Murtagh had pulled out again but I wasn't really surprised. We were supposed to fight in December on the Matthew Macklin bill and when he pulled out then I gave him the benefit of the doubt. Looking at it now though I think he knew what he was in for and he just didn't fancy the job but I know that Ciaran is the kind of guy that will get in there and have a scrap with anyone.“

Fitzgerald's thoughts are backed up by Healy's record which includes names such as Andy Lee, former European Champ Jamie Moore, Olympic Gold medallist James DeGale and reigning British super Middleweight Champion Paul Smith. The Belfast battler also holds a fifth round KO win over Murtagh in a fight that saw him win the Irish Light Middleweight title at the Kings Hall in 2007.

For Fitzgerald the late change of opponent means having to adjust from preparing for a southpaw to Healy who fights from an orthodox stance but the Inner City Dubliner says that won't be a problem.“It just means changing tactics a bit but I've trained hard for this and I'm very confident. That title will be coming back to Sean McDermott street with me on Saturday night.”

Murtagh has apologised for his withdrawal telling Irish-Boxing.com that he is now contemplating retirement. “I was sparring on the previous Saturday and I went to throw a punch and the top half of my body turned, but the lower half didn’t and I ended up going over on my knee,” said Murtagh.

“There was heavy swelling and it turned out I’d torn the cartilage which caused internal bleeding. I went to the hospital and got an X-ray but the injury couldn’t be drained. I’m totally off my feet at the moment and ironically it’s the left leg, whereas last time I injured my right. I had taken two weeks in Tenerife to get away from the snow in Leeds and I felt great, was under the stipulated weight limit and am totally gutted about letting people down,” Murtagh lamented.

“I would love to come back, but I have a gym to run and if my knees are not working anymore, what else can I do but retire?”

The other two Irish title fights on the card will see Galway's Coleman Barrett contesting the vacant Irish heavyweight title with Dublin's Colin Kenna while Tallaght's undefeated Patrick Hyland will make the first defence of his Irish Featherweight title against Mickey Coveney.

Three other non title fights on the bill will see Cuban KO sensation Alexei Acosta, featherweight prospect Willie Casey and new Belfast pro Jamie Conlan looking to extend their unbeaten records.

Tickets for the Yanjing Fight Night priced €30, €40, €50 and €

lozza wrote:Lee was hoping and praying that his knee would heal in time to go ahead with the fight. His decision to call the fight off was not made lightly.

For the record Lee offered to fight for free to get the fight because it meant so much to him.

He has trained extremely hard for this but unfortunately injuries happen.

I think you should all have a rethink and see how you would feel if it was you giving up a dream.

Well said

Really liking those fight posters. Would look good in my boxing pub when I open it [in my dreams].

Deno1986 wrote:Really liking those fight posters. Would look good in my boxing pub when I open it [in my dreams].

they are quality alright.

sligobhoy67 wrote:

bp1983 wrote:

slapbangwhallop wrote:Why do I get the funny feeling that lozza and bp1983 is an injured Lee at home with his leg up and lap top, er, on his lap and Burnt-Norton is an annoyed Mrs. Fitrzgerald!

lol i can assure you me or lozza is not lee everybody is entitled to their opinion after all it is a forum its just knowing lee personally and is a good friend of mine and knowing how much this meant to him and as to weather or not lee left it too late thsats down to lee and the promotor

well its not just down to Lee and BPP - what about Fitzy and all the fans that bought tickets to see the fight as well!?[/


i agree its a disapointment for the fans at least a replacement has been found and it is for the title this time and fitzy will still have the opportunity to become champion as for lee's fans some may still attend i am still going and fly out there sat morning because its still a great bill and i am really looking forward to this one

I will not be attending but would love someone to keep me posted on how the fights go. Think it will be a great night sad to be missing it

lozza wrote:I will not be attending but would love someone to keep me posted on how the fights go. Think it will be a great night sad to be missing it

it will be live, free and legal o rte.ie

Glad Fitzgerald finally got his shot after being messed about TWICE, thought he won but the margin was a little generous

Big respect to Healy for coming in at short notice and giving such a good account of himself, he deserves a return