The Fight into light boxing night was held on the 5th of April 2019. This was the culmination of 28 guys training, hard, for over three months. What that resulted in was a tremendous community effort that had 14 white collar boxing fights in front of a staggering 700 people in O’Loughlin Gaels GAA Club, Kilkenny.
This was done all in the name of Teac Tom . The Thomas Hayes Trust fund as it is also known as, is an initiative started by the Hayes family to support individuals and their families affected by suicide, or contemplating suicide.
The show itself was a phenomenal experience, one that I, Shane O’Keeffe got to experience first hand as I was on ring announcer duties! The action in the ring was fierce however the view from inside the ring was something to behold. The crowd participation and atmosphere was electric. Every single person in that arena made the guys involved feel like superstars, and they truly deserved that for their mammoth effort.
Dont believe us, have a look at this video made my Dicemen Productions from Kilkenny.
The night was such a hit, work began on a second event, this time featuring an all female roster (Interview below). Over the course of the two nights they raised €25,000 after expenses for Teac Tom and also raised money for Cuan Mhuire.
Big shoutout to all the folks behind the scenes Own Doyle from Kilkenny Combat Academy and Barry Delaney spring to mind, hopefully they will be able to have nights like these again soon.
