No stranger to the world’s most famous boxing arena, Sean O'Bradaigh returns to Madison Square Garden -- where he fought a few times as an amateur -- on March 16 to make his professional debut on 360 Promotions’ massive St. Patrick’s Day eve Irish show.
The former amateur standout, previously ranked #8 nationally at light heavyweight, is the latest addition to the show billed “The Biggest Irish Boxing Card in New York City History.”
“King” Callum Walsh, the undefeated [12-0, 10 KOs] Corkman hailed as the fastest rising star in the sport, headlines the event. He defends his WBC super welterweight Continental Americas title against once-beaten Scotsman “Deadly” Dean Sutherland [19-1, 7 KOs] in a 10-rounder.
Five other Irish fighters will be in action on the night. They are: super middleweights Emmet Brennan and Kevin ‘The Kingdom Warrior’ Cronin; super featherweight “Fearless” Feargal McCrory, heavyweight Thomas “The Bomber” Carty and Donagh Keary, a 20-year-old featherweight also making his pro debut.
O’Bradaigh’s opponent in a scheduled four-rounder will be announced later.
Sean O’Bradaigh, right, in a stare-down with a 2024 opponent Adrian Frometa.
The event will be broadcast globally on UFC Fight Pass.
O’Bradaigh, who’s 22, joins the paid ranks after completing his bachelor’s degree in real estate finance at New York University last December. He will receive his diploma at NYU’s commencement in May.
“So, I kind of had this five month buffer time, you know, to try and shoot at a professional career,” he told the Echo last weekend.
The prospect of appearing on such an outstanding card at the Garden was irresistible, too. “One of the reasons I turned pro is because of this event. If they said we're doing an Irish card at the Melrose Ballroom or something, I would have been less excited and would have potentially stayed an amateur for a little bit more. But this opportunity was, way too big to pass up,” he noted.
O’Bradaigh thanked his manager David McGinley of David McGinley Sports for landing him a spot on the 360 Promotions card.
“He has connections to [promotional outfits] Matchroom, Queensbury and he had Tom Loeffler’s [360 Promotions president], phone number. I guess they worked together before, so I had a conversation with my manager and I said you saw that all-Irish card at MSG on St. Paddy’s Day [eve] and he was like yeah, don't worry I'm already working on it. I was like oh, that's great to hear. So he just pushed it for weeks to see if it if it could come to fruition and thankfully it did, so that's all thanks to David McGinley.”
An amateur champion in both middleweight and Elite 176-pound divisions, he’ll campaign at light heavyweight in the pros. “I think once I compete for titles, I can do 168 pounds [super middleweight],” O’Bradaigh added.
He’s retained his amateur trainer Richard Stevenson of the New York Athletic Club [NYAC], and is training at NYAC twice a day, six days a week.
He has a one-fight deal with 360 Promotions for his debut.
“It makes sense because it's at the Garden. I'm Irish American. They had Irish fighters on it but they didn't really have any local talent except for Cletus [The Hebrew Hammer] Selden who’s not even Irish he's the only non-Irish guy on the card, so they needed kind of an Irish American guy with a presence in New York who could sell some tickets here, so I think that's why they put me on the card and thought that'd be a good idea,” O’Bradaigh said.
Back in April 2023, O’Bradaigh had close to 300 supporters at the Garden when he decisioned Israel Bailey to win the Ring Masters/Golden Gloves middleweight novice final.
He’d later move up a weight class to win the Elite 176 pound title in the 2023 New York Boxing Tournament. He was also a 2024 Ring Masters 176 Elite finalist, a three-time National semifinalist -- twice in the U.S. and once in Ireland – and a 2024 Olympic trials competitor.
He can’t wait for March 16.
“Yeah, I'm super excited,” he said. “I'm super grateful to David, Tom Loeffler, my coach, my team, my family, my parents, my brother, I think this opportunity is unbelievable you know you have guys like Julius Ballo who is ranked the #1 pound for pound amateur in the U.S. having his pro debut at a casino in San Diego and I haven't even won a national title and I'm having my pro debut at the Garden.
“I'm super grateful for it and I think it's a massive deal. I'm not taking it lightly I'm training as hard as I ever have and I’m super excited.”
