For the non boxing community, the recent world title fight night at Narrabri’s The Crossing Theatre may have passed almost unremarked.
But not so for local, Australian and world boxing fans.
The staging of the tournament in Narrabri was a coup, and a successful one.
The night at The Crossing Theatre featured a top line card of international and Australian professionals and local and regional up and coming amateurs.
The auditorium was packed, with seating in the upstairs section, tables on the stage, plus main floor seating and standing room tickets.
The night, with an audience of more than 700, was a huge success and there are more to come.
The big event, probably the first ever international title fight in Narrabri, was the brainchild of its major sponsors, Narrabri based ITC Agriculture P/L
The company along with Spike’s Boxing Promotions underwrote the tournament and played a key role in organising and staging the event.
“The title fight certainly put Narrabri and The Crossing Theatre squarely on the world’s boxing map”said ITC’s Ben Finnigan.
“The WBC International Super Featherweight title has been won by the likes of Yuriokis Gamboa and the great Manny Pacquiao.
“A couple of boxing websites say Narrabri is the best venue of 2014. Fantastic feedback for Narrabri.”
And The Crossing Theatre could be back on the international boxing map early next year with a further world title tournament featuring some big names in February.
The Narrabri venue won praise, as did the organisation and conduct of the event.
“The sportsmanship, professionalism of the guys, the referees and
everyone involved was great”said Ben.
“The venue was better than any city venue that’s been fought in this year”.
“The atmosphere was friendly, there was not one incident of misbehaviour, and we were fortunate to get the One Punch Campaign Australia (OPCA) on board, with Kez the director of OPCA making the journey from Victoria.
“Corey McConnell, the World Boxing Council (WBC) International Super Featherweight titleholder, said it was the best fight venue he has been to and he has travelled the world.”
How did the big event come to Narrabri?
“Peter Briggs, proprietor of ITC and I are boxing enthusiasts. We were sitting watching a tournament on television in Mackay six months ago and said ‘we can do that in Narrabri’” said Ben.
“ITC have long sponsored Spike’s Boxing gym in Gunnedah, and with Spike’s contacts he was able to involve some of the big names in boxing, couple that with guys like Narabri’s Tristan Campbell helping out - we all saw how well it went”
“The Narrabri boxing club was invited to bring their amateurs along and they did that successfully and the whole event ran really well”said Ben.
Joebert Delos Reyes, now employed at ITC, is an International Boxing Organisation (IBO) world title holder.
Joebert will defend his title probably in November.
“He may have to do that elsewhere, but we anticipate he will be back at The Crossing Theatre with a couple of other title fights as well,” said Ben.
“We are looking at that for Narrabri in February and that will be a really big event.”