Sheffield boxing promoter extends his reach to Ireland

Callum Simpson was the first to bring back South Yorkshire boxing to a football stadium.

He beat Zac Chelli at Barnsley FC to brandish aloft the British and Super Middleweight belts.

Saturday sees him back at Oakwell, against Ivan Zucco, aiming to add the vacant European strap to his collection.

The Boxxer show follows GBM Sports' event at Doncaster Rovers ground on May 23, on which Terri Harper successfully defended her WBO World Lightweight title.

That was a GBM Sports' show.

And the company's owner, Sheffield businessman Izzy Asif, isn't stopping there.

On June 28, he stages an event Galway's Pearse Stadium in Ireland, a venue normally associated with Gaelic football and hurling.

All these events carry a financial risk - if the seats aren't filled, the promoters' pockets are emptied.

Asif is hoping his first show across the Irish sea will be a barnstormer.

Hometown hero Kieran Molloy will have the crowd behind him as he faces former British welterweight champion Kaisee Benjamin.

The WBA European Welterweight Championship is at stake.

A tussle for the European Light Heavyweight title between Shakan Pitters and Bradley Rea tops the bill.

So far, only two other bouts have been announced, so it will be interesting to see how the evening unfolds, live on DAZN.

One of the other scraps features super middleweight Lerrone Richards, whose career has been guided by trained Coldwell in Rotherham.

Izzy, one of the bubbliest boxing personalities in the game, says history is being made.

"This is a huge fight for Kieran and for Kaisee, as well as for the Irish boxing scene as a whole. Kieran is looking to win this European championship and cement his position as a world title contender, but Kaisee sees a chance here to get back into the contender picture himself, so this is going to be a war.

"Winning this European title gives you the ranking and the stature to be included in the world title picture.

"This event is historic. Pearse Stadium has never hosted a boxing event before so I said why not? Let's do it outdoors in the summer, big homecoming for Kieran, the whole county behind him as well as boxing fans across Ireland.

"I think it's going to be an amazing atmosphere."

The show is a milestone in Izzy's rapid ascent - he only formed GBM Sports in 2022 and extending his reach into Ireland showcases Asif's commitment to bringing high-profile boxing matches to diverse locations.

HISTORICAL NOTE: Ingle boxer Esham Pickering boxed Dublin's Bernard Dunne for the European super bantamweight title in his home city in 2006. Dunne won by unanimous decision.

The most prestigious and financially significant match involving a British boxer held in the Republic of Ireland is widely regarded as the 1995 WBO super-middleweight title bout between Chris Eubank and Steve Collins.