The Rocky Road

In Part 2 of our special from Vicar Street on the Katie Taylor/Croker Park, it’s a heavyweight special - fitting, given Muhammad Ali was the last fighter to headline there. ‘No Carty, No Party’ seems to be the case once again as Dublin heavyweight Thomas Carty takes on durable Doncaster puncher Dave Allen in a make-or-break fight for both men. Carty grew up dreaming of playing for Dublin at Croke...

The undercard for Katie Taylor’s Croke Park fight on September 5th has been officially confirmed - not that she needed one, judging by how ticket sales are said to have gone. In Part 1 of our special from Vicar Street, we hear from Jamie Conlan on how some of these fights came together. He manages Tyrone McKenna, who is in tough against heavy-handed world title challenger Paddy Donovan. We hear fr...

Lewis Crocker surrendered his IBF world welterweight title after a gruelling battle with Liam Paro in Brisbane. Having won the belt in his closely contested rematch with Paddy Donovan at Windsor Park last September, the Croc was handed a stern first defence: a trip Down Under to face the home favourite. And he very nearly pulled it off, coming on strong in the late rounds and showing much of his f...

Barry Jones is a decorated ex-boxer turned pundit and analyst, a former WBO super-featherweight world champion who’s returning to Dublin this summer for a couple of key events in the calendar. First he’ll be ringside to call Pierce O’Leary v Mark Chamberlain at the 3Arena in August – then he’ll be back the following month to bring us Katie Taylor’s retirement bout against Flora Pili at Croke Park,...

We’re mapping out what is about to be the most chaotic, star-studded and high-stakes summer in the history of Irish boxing. Four shows in less than two months, spanning from Leopardstown Racecourse to back-to-back weeks at the 3Arena, all leading up to a history making night at Croke Park when Katie Taylor boxes for the very last time. To break down the logistics, the promoter egos, the ticke...

This week, we sit down with former world title challenger, elite trainer, and boxing historian "The Iceman" John Scully. Ahead of his June 6 event at the legendary Deer Lake training camp to mark the ten-year anniversary of Muhammad Ali's death, Scully breaks down the complex legacy of The Greatest - from the draft and his life outside the ring, to his sheer toughness and legend. He talks about be...

This week on  The Rocky Road , Kevin sits down with Limerick’s 15-1 southpaw Lee Reeves ahead of his May 30 return at Leopardstown Racecourse on a JB Promotions show. From the streets of Limerick to the lights of Madison Square Garden, Reeves’ journey has been anything but ordinary. In a deeply honest conversation, he opens up about personal grief, finding purpose and the experiences that hav...

Joining us to dissect the absolute chaos of the Daniel Dubois v Fabio Wardley heavyweight clash is a man who lives and breathes the sport. Hailing from a legendary fighting lineage in Drogheda, Chris McKenna is a former boxer himself and a top boxing journalist. He is the son of coaching icon Christy McKenna and the brother of one of the island's elite tactical minds, Damien McKenna. We discuss th...

Since hanging up the gloves, unified world champion Ryan Burnett hasn’t been looking for a quiet life. Whether it’s pushing supercars to the limit or tearing up tracks on motorbikes, he’s a man who still lives life on the edge. Now a boxing trainer in his own right, his latest challenge was perhaps his most personal and gruelling yet: pushing 63.5kg - the fighting weight of his late mentor Ricky H...

Jason Quigley will have been out of the ring for more than three years; Luke Keeler for 2.5. But they're ready to park their retirements and meet at the centre of the ring at Croke Park when Katie Taylor rocks up for her retirement bout in September, all going well. Every Irish fighter born from his/her mother will have their hand up for a slot on the card but these two are at the head of the queu...

Dublin actor, comedian and former international boxer  Terry O’Neill  joins us to talk about the upcoming show at the National Stadium,  ‘In The Ring With Dan Donnelly & Dublin’s Boxing Legends’ , taking place on  May 9 . Terry, who will perform a portion of his hit one-man show  Rope-A-Dope  on the night, will be joined by heavyweights of Irish culture including&...

Heavyweight madness as The Sun's Wally Downes Jr joins us again to talk about Tyson Fury's comeback, the deadlock with Anthony Joshua and how it can be broken, the late surge of Deontay Wilder and the ongoing adventures of Oleksandr Usyk. We also look ahead to the title fight between British rivals Fabio Wardley and Daniel Dubois, and where Next Big Thing Moses Itauma fits into it all. Plus h...

Brandon McCarthy is living the dream right now. As he prepares to get back in the ring in Las Vegas, after 13 months out, the Kilkenny boxer – a 16-time Irish amateur champion – reflects on the lesson’s he’s learned so far in the pros, boxing out of the famous Wild Card Gym in California where he walks in his hero Manny Pacquiao’s footsteps. McCarthy tells us about working with Pacman’s former tra...

Steven O’Rourke runs O’Rourke’s Gym in Inchicore, Dublin. Originally from Denton in Manchester, boxing and Manchester United were the twin pillars of his youth - and they remain so today. Steven takes us back to street life in the 60s and 70s, running with the Manchester-Irish lads and learning early on how to fight his way out of trouble. He recalls the dream-like access he had to the Old Traffor...

Kevin Byrne caught up with Ryan O'Rourke before his fight against Alex Vargas on April 17th was announced. O’Rourke is not easily dissuaded. At 26 years old and 13-0, with a promotional deal in the US with Star Boxing, the Dubliner’s trajectory looks envious from the outside. But behind the record lies the exhausting reality of the professional game. In 2025 alone, Ryan saw four fights collapse. I...

‘Ohh, Anto Cacace’ came the chant at the end of a blistering night in Dublin that saw the Belfast man crowned a two-time world champion. The Apache beat Jazza Dickens by unanimous decision to claim the Liverpudlian’s WBA super-featherweight strap. That came after the Big Bang – with Pierce O’Leary’s homecoming, at last, proving he hadn’t bitten off more than he could chew, not by a long shot. He t...

Belfast’s  Michael Conlan  and Brockton’s  Kevin Walsh  meet at the SSE Arena on March 20, with the stakes sky-high for both men. For Conlan, at 34, it’s about navigating the final chapter of a storied career. For the unbeaten Walsh, it’s the opportunity he’s been chasing since got the gloves back on while awaiting his fate in a jail cell. In this episode, we sit down with both...

Kelsey Leonard has got off to a  flyer  in professional boxing. Fittingly, that’s exactly how she started as an amateur: spotting a flyer at age nine inviting youngsters to her local club, showing up, and never looking back. Inspired by her idol,  Katie Taylor , the Kildare native stormed the amateur ranks, securing eight Irish titles and medals at both the Junior European and World...

Gary Cully could write a book about what’s happened since he last joined us. He’d have a chapter on the best win of his career and perhaps his worst defeat. We’d hear about the realisation that a drugs cheat cut him down in his prime, derailed his momentum and potentially cost him millions of euro. Eye surgery, getting engaged, becoming a dad, developing his businesses, making peace with his inner...

After one bender too many, one doghouse too many, Paddy Gallagher decided enough was enough. He was quitting the gargle for good. But when he made that decision, he never really expected what would follow – a boxing comeback. However that’s exactly what’s going down, with the Pat Man ready to return now at the Waterfront, Belfast on February 27. He’s been out of the ring since 2019 so there’s boun...

‘Ravishing’ Paul Ryan tells us about, er, descending from a boxing Hall of Famer in Tipp’s ‘Trojan Giant’ Paddy Ryan, giving himself his own nickname and why Tyrone McKenna owes him a tattoo. The exciting Dublin middleweight moved into headliner category last year with an impressive victory over Limerick’s Edward Donovan at the National Stadium. That triumph came on the back of a career low, when...

John Cooney died in February 2025 after suffering a brain injury during the first defence of his Celtic super-featherweight title against Nathan Howells. It was his 12th professional bout, and In total, he boxed 60 rounds across his dozen pro bouts, winning 11, right up to his final contest at the Ulster Hall in Belfast. John was just 28 years old when he passed away, the first fatality in an Iris...

This is The Rocky Road to Dublin, Part 3. It’s going to be a big night of boxing at the 3Arena on March 14, headlined by the world title fight between Anthony Cacace and WBA champ, Jazza Dickens. Parts 1 and 2 dealt with the main event and co-main event featuring Pierce O’Leary versus Mark Chamberlain. We also brought you interviews with newcomers Adam Olaniyan and Bobbi Flood, who’ll be making th...

St Pierce's Day weekend is coming. It’s going to be a big night of boxing at the 3Arena on March 14, headlined by the world title fight between Anthony Cacace and WBA champ, Jazza Dickens. The chief support bout sees Pierce O’Leary fighting in Dublin at long last. The local boxer takes on Portsmouth’s Mark Chamberlain for the IBO world title at light-welterweight. Big Bang has previously held the...

Anto Cacace is starving. And not just for the Nando’s he’s been waiting all day for. The former IBF world super-featherweight hit The Rocky Road to Dublin to publicise his March 14 clash with Liverpool’s James ‘Jazza’ Dickens at the 3Arena, with Dickens putting his WBA world title on the line in what’s sure to be a mouthwatering clash. ‘The Apache’ tells us why he’s hungrier than ever to keep maki...