Lee And McCullough Lead Irish Boxers Into "Erin Go Brawl II"

Many of the leading Irish and Irish-American boxers in the world will gather on St. Patrick's Day Eve (Monday, March 16), including 2004 Olympian Andy Lee and former WBC bantamweight champion Wayne "Pocket Rocket" McCullough, to fight on the "Erin Go Brawl II" card, presented by Irish Ropes Promotions at WaMu Theater in the famed Madison Square Garden.

Top middleweight prospect Lee (16-1, 13 KOs) will headline against 3-time world title challenger Antwun "Kid Dynamite" Echols (31-9-4, 27 KOs) in the 10 round main event.

Although he hails from Limerick, Ireland, Lee fights out of the legendary Kronk Gym in Detroit and is trained by Hall of Famer Emanuel Steward. Echols is a past multi-regional champion who holds wins against former world champion Charles Brewer, Kabrey Salem, Ross Thompson and has fought Bernard Hopkins twice and Anthony Mundine.

Belfast-native McCullough, fighting out of Las Vegas, captured a Silver Medal at the 1992 Olympics. The veteran super bantamweight is in the 10-round co-feature against an opponent to be determined.

"The show goes on and, I promise you, 'Erin Go Brawl II' is going to be a spectacular show," Irish Ropes president Eddie McLoughlin said. "Andy Lee is headlining and a living legend, Wayne McCullough, is in the co-feature. We have a lot of other exciting young Irish fighters in this card."

Former Irish and Australian national amateur champion, undefeated light welterweight Dean "Irish Lightning" Byrne (10-0, 4 KOs), is also fighting in an 8 round bout. Byrne, training in Los Angeles under Freddie Roach, is a native of Crumlin, Ireland.

Scheduled to fight in 6-rounders are Irish featherweight champion Patrick "Pajo" Hyland (15-0, 8 KOs), of Dublin; Philadelphia by way of Galway middleweight "Slick Fightin' Irish" Simon O'Donnell (8-1, 5 KOs); Limerick light heavyweight Jamie Power (4-0, 2 KOs) versus Reggie "Concrete" LaCrete (4-0-2, 3 KOs), from Brooklyn; Chicago by way of County Mayo light middleweight Henry "Western Warrior" Coyle (9-1, 8 KOs), 2005 World Military Games champion; Jersey City super featherweight Danny "Little Mac" McDermott (6-1-1, 2 KOs).

Also on the card in 4 round matches are Massachusetts light welterweight Danny O'Connor (3-0, 1 KO), 2008 U.S. Olympic Team alternate; Brooklyn featherweight Sadam Ali (1-0, 1 KO), 2008 U.S. Olympian.

Andy Lee: "March 16, St. Patrick's Day eve - big fight, big Irish show. There are a lot of good Irish fighters on the show like Hyland and Byrne. I'm honored to be sharing the card with one of my heroes, Wayne McCullough, starting when he was in the Olympics and as a pro. He's been like a mentor to me, always helping me. It's like I'm being reintroduced in America. I lost my last fight in America and came back strong in my last fight (in Ireland), knocking out Willie Gibbs. I took some time off last year to het my eye heal, If I win this and a few more I should be in the top 10 and knocking on the door for a world title fight."