Lord of the Ring: Gary Hamilton is Back
Famed Gary Hamilton of Northern Ireland makes his return to the ring after five years of layoff. “Belfast Boy” headlines an upcoming "made-in Prokick" event billed as “Lord of the Ring”. Promoted by Billy Murray the fight show takes place at Stormont Hotel on October 26. Battling in front of his home crowd Hamilton faces his old foe Douglas Morrison of Scotland.
The pair first met in February 2001. The contest ended in the last round with Hamilton taking the win by TKO, after landing left hook to the body, which dropped Morrison. Although the latter beat the eight-count the referee waved the fight off in the final seconds.
As many as 18 years later the veteran-kickboxers square off for the second time. The non-title bout is scheduled for seven rounds in Full Contact at super welterweight (72.6 kg).
Over the course of his career Hamilton held WKN World Full Contact title in two different weight classes, featherweight and lightweight. He won the belts against the defending champion at that time Pastor Pascal by knockout in Round 4 in 2002 in France, and the challenger Paolo Renna by knockout in Round 5 in 2014 in Northern Ireland (respectively).
Billy Murray,
trainer of Gary Hamilton and promoter of the show
stated:
"Gary has been thinking about his return
for a long time now, I told him if he was serious, then yes
I would help him. He has been back training for around 6
months, on and off, and he has convinced me that he
definitely wants another match, whether it's a final match,
who knows, rest assured he still has the talent and the fire
burning within. We have three months until the event date
and my job as a coach and a promoter is to make sure that
Gary Hamilton will be the Belfast Boy of old."
Douglas Morrison is former British, European and World Full-Contact star.
Albert Ross, trainer of Douglas Morrison
stated:
"Douglas has wanted this re-match with
Gary Hamilton for such a long time after losing to him all
those years ago. Douglas feels the time is right for this
fight, and to win in Belfast away from home will be even
sweeter."
The co-main event at “Lord of the Ring” features the newly crowned WKN Intercontinental Welterweight champion Johnny “Swift” Smith of Northern Ireland in defense of his title against Shuhei Sone of Japan.
The event celebrates 30 years when former four-division World Champion in Full Contact, Belfast’s Billy Murray lifted his first crown.
International Super Welterweight
bout / Full Contact 7x2mn
Gary Hamilton (Northern
Ireland) vs. Douglas Morrison (Scotland)
WKN
Intercontinental Welterweight title / Oriental rules
5x3mn
Johnny Smith (Northern Ireland) vs. Shuhei Sone
(Japan)