A raucous crowd of 600 lit up the Finn Valley Centre on Saturday night as professional boxing was hosted for the first time.
Five super pro bouts and an entertaining amateur exhibition had the capacity audience on the edge of their seats throughout the night at Fight Night at the Valley.
“That meant a lot to me,” Quigley said. “To see the Finn Valley Centre set up like that with the production and to see the atmosphere made it worthwhile.
That’s what I meant by breaking the mould. People didn’t expect to see the glitz, the glam, the lights, the screens.”
In the headline act, Sligo’s Thomas Myers took a points win on his first outing on Irish soil as a pro.
Light-heavyweight Myers went the six-round distance with Patryk Polasik to earn a 59-55 win on the scorecard of referee David Irving.
Myers is now 4-0, 1KO in the paid ranks
“It felt like a homecoming and I was honoured to be the main event,” Myers, who won three times in the UK and the US said. “Here is only an hour or so from Sligo so it was great to be here and have a good crowd down. The atmosphere was unbelievable.
“He was a tough man and he just wouldn’t go down. I wanted to give them something to shout about with a stoppage, but he was a tough, durable man and I have six valuable rounds in the bank.”
Doing six rounds gives Myers eligibility now to contest for titles. He said: “I just need an active year now and think about coming back to Donegal to fight for a Celtic title later in the year.”
It was rookie Aodhan Byrne, a native of Kilcullen in Kildare but with strong Ballybofey bloodlines, who stole the show.
The 23-year-old bagged a debut win when defeating Marian Wesolowski on the scorecards. The mercury lifted considerably when Byrne took to the stage, the decibel levels hoisted as the 2025 Irish Intermediate champ ducked through the ropes for the first time as a pro.
“That guy was tough and he came to win,” Byrne said. “I stood in the pocket with him and I tried to finish him in the third round. I thought I had him hurt, but he was tough and he survived.”
Wesolowski has now gone the distance in his last seven contests and Byrne, whose mother Sinead hails from Carrickmagrath in Ballybofey, said: “He had an unbelievable chin. If I had another 30 seconds, I might have got him out there.”
Byrne was given the nod in all four rounds by the third man in the ring, referee Paul McCullough.
Dublin heavyweight Daniel Fakoyede moved to 2-0, 1KO when defeating German Skobenko 39-36 on points and Gorey light-heavy ‘Bomber’ David Kennedy, making his return from injury, extended his unbeaten record to 3-0 with a 40-36 win on points against Alex Dzubak from Slovakia.
‘Hands of Stone’ Jason Myers (4-0, 3KOs), a cruiserweight from Galway, is rapidly making Donegal a home from home and he took his third win in the north west as a pro.
Myers, now 5-0, 4KOs, defeated veteran Jiri Svacina from Czechia. Myers won each of the six rounds for a 60-54 win on points on what was his first time going the six round distance.
Raphoe Boxing Club graduates Danny Duffy and Cathal McLaughlin were due to be on the show, but injury prevented them from ducking through the ropes.
Young amateurs like Conan Kearney from St Bridget’s in Clonmany and Carra McHugh from Raphoe BC took part in an entertaining exhibition, which was refereed by James McCarron from Carrigart, to kick off the night.
“We have the blueprint for it now,” Quigley said. “We know what to add now for the next time.”
