The Irish have been filling New York venues for over 100 years, with notables like Jimmy McLarnin – still considered a top-five welterweight of all time – and the Bould Mike McTigue, as well as Irish Americans Jack Dempsey and Gene Tunney boxing regularly at Madison Square Garden.
While the bright lights of Las Vegas attract most of the big boxing nights on the calendar, the iconic New York venue will always be known as the Mecca of Boxing.
And it was at the midtown Manhattan arena where the Fight of the Century took place back in 1971, as the unbeaten Muhammad Ali fought champion Joe Frazier for the world heavyweight title.
It was only Ali's third fight back following his enforced exile from the sport as a result of refusing to submit to the draft for the Vietnam War, while Frazier, also unbeaten at that stage of his career, had procured the heavyweight title in the intervening years.
The fight grabbed the attention of the world, with both boxers guaranteed a fee of $2.5 million, and it was a who’s who in terms of the US celebrity circuit in New York City that night – famously Frank Sinatra picked up a photography assignment for Life magazine in order to get a bird’s eye view of the highly anticipated encounter.
Tickets were sold for the fight to be screened at theatres across America and London, grossing over $45 million in sales, while an estimated 300 million watched the fight worldwide – 20,455 lucky souls crammed into the New York venue to watch the fight live.
Frazier would take the first of what turned out to be a trilogy of heavyweight encounters with Ali securing the second, also on a unanimous decision, again at the famous New York venue.
The third fight would go the way of Ali in gruelling conditions in what was famously labelled the Thrilla in Manila.
Other famous bouts at Madison Square Garden include the 1942 middleweight meeting of the Raging Bull, Jake LaMotta and Sugar Ray Robinson, Rocky Marciano’s heavyweight clash with Joe Louis in 1951, and Lennox Lewis’ battle with Evander Holyfield in 1999.
In 2008, Welsh legend Joe Calzaghe brought the curtain down on his flawless professional career with his 46th straight win, beating fellow boxing legend Roy Jones Junior at MSG, while Anthony Joshua was shocked by Andy Ruiz in 2019 at the same venue, losing his unified heavyweight title.
Madison Square Garden also played a very important role in the final stages of former world champion, Andy Lee’s career.
Fighting on the undercard of Sergio Martinez’s world middleweight title clash with Miguel Cotto, Lee took on the hard-hitting John Jackson, perhaps in his final foray for a world belt.
Working with new coach Adam Booth, Lee dropped down to the super welterweight division for the New York encounter, and found himself flat on the canvas inside the first round.
In truth, the bout did not get too much better for the Limerick native, right until the fifth round when Lee was under pressure, pinned against the famous ropes of the Madison Square Garden ring, when he detonated a perfect right hook to knock his opponent out cold.
In his next fight, back up at middleweight, Lee would secure the world title, stopping Matt Korobov to reach the pinnacle of his career.
Another middleweight prospect and world title contender to grace the ring at MSG was Matthew Macklin, who fought and lost to Martinez in New York on St Patrick’s Day 2012.
Macklin was famously "robbed" of a world title in Germany the previous summer against Felix Sturm, and looked set to right those wrongs in New York as he dominated Martinez, and dropped the Argentinian in the seventh round, however, he would ultimately come up short, hitting the canvas twice in the penultimate round to, once again, leave empty-handed.
But when it comes to Irish boxers in New York, none can really compare with hype that surrounded John Duddy’s rise through the middleweight ranks.
Working his way through the professional ranks in what was a golden era for Irish middleweights alongside Lee and Macklin, and yet the three never managed to meet inside the ring.
Derry man Duddy based himself in New York and brought out the diaspora from the east coast of America and beyond to follow his journey from prospect to contender in the marquee division.
Duddy would fight nine times at the famous New York address and have his hand raised in victory on every occasion, and while boxing on the undercards of world title fights, it was his famed St Patrick’s Day cards at the theatre venue that cemented his status as an exciting and entertaining, crowd-pulling Irish fighter.
The aforementioned Lee also had two fights at the iconic arena at the start of his professional career, beating Dennis Sharpe in 2006, as well as featuring on Duddy’s big night on St Patrick’s week in 2007.
Mayo man Henry Coyle also fought that night, making his professional debut in a four-round victory over Jason Collazo, while Banner boxing brothers Mark and James Clancy also featured on the Irish-tinted undercard.
Monaghan heavyweight Kevin McBride fought at Madison Square Garden in 2007 against renowned Polish pugilist Andrew Golota, losing the bout following a sixth round knock-out.
McBride famously beat Mike Tyson in 2005, however, that particular punch-out took place at the MCI Center in Washington.
Tyson, a famed son of New York, retired after the defeat to the Irishman, and while he fought at Madison Square Garden early in his career, most of his world title fights took place in Vegas or Atlantic City.
Patrick Hyland and Spike O’Sullivan featured on a St Patrick’s weekend card at the theatre venue at Madison Square Gardens, while both fighters also fought high-profile nights Stateside, as Corkonian O’Sullivan lost to David Lemieux in Las Vegas, while Dubliner Hyland boxed Gary Russell Jr for the featherweight world title at the renowned Foxwoods Resort Casino.
Two active Irish fighters who may look to take Duddy’s crown as king of New York are Olympic duo Michael Conlan and Joe Ward; the pair have six and three appearacnes at MSG respectively.
Carl Frampton also enjoyed world title success in New York, back in July 2016 when he arguably produced the performance of his career to secure the featherweight crown, defeating Leo Santa Cruz
Ring Magazine boxer of the year for 2016, although Frampton’s big night did not take place at Madison Square Garden, but rather the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
But this week, New York City brings another great Irish fighter to the hallowed halls of Madison Square Garden in a truly historic night for women’s and Irish boxing.
Katie Taylor defends her undisputed world lightweight title against Puerto Rican New Yorker, Amanda Serrano, as a women’s boxing match headlines at Madison Square Garden for the first time in the venue’s illustrious history.
Taylor has walked this road before, however, beating Delphine Persoon on the undercard of that Anthony Joshua defeat at MSG, in what was perhaps the champion’s toughest test so far in her unblemished professional record of 20 victories and no defeats.
"This fight is at Madison Square Garden, the most iconic venue in boxing. The Mecca of boxing, really," said Taylor ahead of the fight.
"You think of Madison Square Garden, and you think the likes of Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier these kinds of fights.
"This is just a special occasion for me, to headline a huge fight like this at Madison Square Garden.
"We have champion versus champion. The best versus the best and this is why this fight is so special.
"This fight is genuinely the biggest fight in boxing as a whole right now!
"It’s years and years later we’re still talking Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier kind of fights. I think years and years later from this fight people are still going to be talking about Katie Taylor versus Amanda Serrano."
Follow Katie Taylor v Amanda Serrano with live updates on RTE.ie/Sport and RTÉ News app from Sunday at 2.30am
