Priory Park are a big hit in and out the ring

The Dudley-based outfit hosted an England verses Ireland clash at The Copthorne Hotel in Brierley Hill that saw the club’s boxers take on fighters from the renowned Olympic Boxing Club in Galway.

And the event proved to be a huge hit inside and outside the ring much to the delight of chairman Paul Gough.

The night served up a series of high-quality contests in front of a crowd of around 300 with the hosts emerging victorious thanks to victories from Ben Collins, Connor Jones, Jarrod Grant, Tyriq Allison, Tomas Grygkiewicz and Sam Gwilt.

But as well as gaining plaudits for their efforts in the ring, Gough has been delighted with the feedback from the Irish visitors regarding the hospitality on display.

Gough left no stone unturned in his bid to ensure the Olympic contingent enjoyed their stay in the Black Country with a Go Karting night getting the boxers revved up for action. “It was one of the biggest events we have put on as a club, we had never staged an international contest before,” said Gough.

“But it was a great success and the feedback we have had from Olympic has been outstanding.

“They travel all over the place for fights but they said they had never been treated like this and looked after so well. That’s nice to hear and huge credit to our club.

“It was an expensive show to put it on and it would not have been possible without our sponsors – Richardson Capital, Barclays Bank, Willows Construction and Virtual Guard – so a massive thank you to them. We put all their fighters, coaches and officials up at The Copthorne for two nights. We really went out of our way to look after them.

“We picked them up from the airport and then took them to out gym for a training session, and then took them out for some food.

“On the first evening we had a Karting competition at Halesowen, which went down really well and then had some food and drinks after. The lads absolutely loved that. We even had three Priory lads coming first, second and third in that, which was great.

“The Olympic lads had some down-time the following day before the show and then they were driven back to the airport the day after. A lot of hard work went into organising the show but it was worth it. It was great experience for our lads, as will going over there to fight next year in the return match.”

The standard of boxing also impressed Gough, who doubled up as match-maker with Olympic coach Mick Mogan.

“All the bouts were close and the quality was very high,” said Gough.

“Olympic are the No.1 one club in Ireland and have won just about every competition going. One of their lads, Mike Delaney, is a four-time national champion and has won a bronze for GB.

“Their coach Mick Mogan trusted my judgement in matching up the fights and I trusted his. And it worked out because there were some great fights. As well as the international fights, a number of other contests made up a 15-bout bill with the youngster boxer aged 10 and the oldest 24, and we had around 300 people in.”

Gough has designs on promoting further international shows in the future and may look north of the border.

“It has whet my appetite for more shows like this and I would love to do an England-Scotland-Ireland contest. That could be one for the future,” he said.

As for the immediate future, the club are staging a development show at Brierley Hill Civic Hall on Saturday, November 4, where there will be plenty of action featuring just Priory Park boxers.

And while the club’s boxing contingent continues to grow, Gough also runs various fitness classes at the club’s Priory Road base. “The club is thriving at the moment. Our membership is rising and I am continually getting texts and calls from people asking if they can join,” he said.

“But it’s not just about boxing. We also run various fitness classes at the gym and the parents also get involved. It’s like one big happy family.”