DC Hosts 'Belfast-Beltway Boxing Classic' January 26!

The Nation's Capitol will play host to the first annual "Belfast-Beltway Boxing Classic" amateur boxing event on Saturday, January 26 at the Westin Washington, DC City Center Hotel, 1400 M Street, NW in DC.

Boxers from the Sugar Ray Leonard Boxing Center in Palmer Park, MD will face off against boxers representing three boxing clubs in Northern Ireland in a charitable tournament that will raise money to benefit the participating gyms.

"This tournament will be a memorable experience for everyone involved. It will bring together two groups of athletes from both sides of the Atlantic for an exciting night of boxing and charity. I hope this is the beginning of a long friendship between the participating boxing gyms," said Junious Hinton, head coach of the Sugar Ray Leonard Center in a press release.

The three gyms that will visit from Ireland have interesting stories:

The Ardoyne Holy Cross (AHC) Boxing Club was reopened in 2003 after a seven year hiatus by seven fathers in Belfast as a way of getting youth off the streets and out of trouble. With suicide rates among teenage boys in Northern Ireland higher than in the entire United Kingdom, the AHC Boxing Club provides a safe and structured environment for youth. More than 140 boys from 7 to 20 years in age came out for the AHC Boxing Club’s first meeting.

Located in the basement of the Holy Cross Church in the Ardoyne section of Belfast, the boys not only learn the fundamentals of boxing, they are taught discipline, respect and responsibility. Former WBA Welterweight Champion Eamon McGee is an Ardoyne native and can be found helping the fighters train on occasion. Since 2003, the AHC has participated in 20 boxing tournaments.

The Cairn Lodge Amatuer Boxing Club (ABC) in Belfast and the Albery Foundry ABC in Newtonabbey will also send boxers to fight for the team from Northern Ireland. Both clubs are members of the Irish Amateur Boxing Association. As an example of the extraordinary political progress that has been made in Northern Ireland in recent times, the boxers traveling to the United States as a team will represent both the catholic and protestant traditions.

“The Belfast-Beltway Boxing Classic will provide a unique opportunity for these young men, many of whom have never left own neighborhood. By traveling together, as one group representing Northern Ireland, we can only hope that the political tensions that existed between protestants and catholics will be left to their parents and grandparents generations. We thank the Americans for the invitation to participate in the boxing tournament, and we look forward to this once in a lifetime opportunity,” said Charles Quinn, Chairman of the Ardoyne Holy Cross Boxing Club in a press release.

More information on this event as it becomes available.