[caption id="attachment_68827" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Pajo with Snooki of "Jersey Shore.""]
Undefeated Dubliner Patrick "Pajo" Hyland is tapped to headline an Atlantic City card Jan. 28, also featuring his brothers Paul and Eddie. It's dubbed "The Irish Invasion" and reality TV star Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi of "Jersey Shore" fame will co-promote.
The reigning Irish and WBF world featherweight champion, Patrick [24-0, 11 KOs] is scheduled to go eight rounds with the seasoned Emanuel Lucero, a 33 year-old Mexican, at Resorts Casino Hotel. Nicknamed "The Butcher," the Scranton, Pa.-based Lucero has a loss to Manny Pacquiao on his 26-8-1 [14 KOs] ledger.
Paul and Eddie's opponents in the super bantamweight and middleweight divisions, respectively, will be announced later.
"I've seen videos of his fights. He's been in with some top operators so I will have to be at the top of my game," Patrick, who's 28, said of Lucero on Monday from his upstate New York base. "I know it will be a tough fight."
The middle of the three fighting Hyland brothers, Patrick has been training States-side for three months under the tutelage of Tracy Harris Patterson, the former world super featherweight champion and son of ex-world heavyweight titlist Floyd Patterson.
They previously worked together three years ago for Patrick's IBA Inter-continental super featherweight title win over Carlos Guevara in March 2009.
Co-promoter Brian Burke of Final Round Promotions said the Lucero fight was a huge stepping stone for Patrick.
"He's on the verge of going for a title," noted Burke, who's worked with all three Hyland brothers on their previous sojourns to the United States.
Tickets for "The Irish Invasion" show are available online from www.ticketmaster.com or by calling 1(800)745-3000, or the Super Star Theater Box Office at (609)340-6311 or (609) 340-6000.
The card will be broadcast live on pay per view. For more information on the broadcast, visit www.behindthering.com.
BROADWAY BOXING
In Manhattan, meanwhile, New York's two most popular Irish prospects are being lined up for the first DiBella Entertainment [DBE] "Broadway Boxing" show of the New Year at the Roseland Ballroom January 21.
Light heavyweight Seanie Monaghan and heavyweight Thomas Hardwick, who are both unbeaten, will join several of DBE's most promising and upcoming prospects on the card.
Monaghan, the son of County Meath immigrants who fights out of Long Beach, Long Island is 11-0 with eight KOs, while Hardwick, a Dublin native based in Yonkers is 3-0 with two stoppages. Their respective opponents will be announced later.
Headlining the 10-bout card will be Brooklyn's undefeated NABF light welterweight champion, Gabriel "Tito" Bracero [18-0, 3KOs].
"This is going to be our eighth consecutive year with the series and we expect it to be one of the best and most memorable years yet, commencing with what is sure to be an action-packed night of boxing on January," said Lou DiBella, President and CEO of DiBella Entertainment.
DiBella's other U.S.-based Irish charges includes world middleweight title contenders Andy Lee and Matthew Macklin.
Tickets for the Broadway Boxing card are pegged at $125, $85, $65 and $45, and are available from www.ticketmaster.com or by calling (800) 745-3000.
