Boxing: Bernard Dunne, the former Irish amateur champion, took his first step towards success in the professional ranks when he impressively won his inaugural paid bout in Feather Falls Casino, Oroville, California. Dunne stopped Mexican Rodrigo Ortiz in the second round by a technical knockout.
The Dublin fighter broke Ortiz's nose in the second round after an explosive start to the featherweight contest and the Mexican failed to emerge from his corner. Dunne, who returns home for Christmas, will go back to the US for his next bout on January 12th. He will likely fight in Las Vegas where Wayne McCullough makes his return to the ring after 26 months of inactivity. Both McCullough and Dunne are promoted by Mat Tinley.
Southpaw Dunne's start augurs well for a fighter who hopes to follow McCullough to a world title. Ortiz, more experienced but not in the same class as Dunne, started the fight with a previous record of two wins and a loss.
In amateur boxing, Sligo heavyweight Stephen Reynolds has decided to retire. The 28-year-old will not be defending his Irish senior title this year but will remain in the sport as a coach.
Basketball: The remarkable return to form for Killester can continue this evening when they meet Dublin rivals Tolka Rovers in one of the few games fixed for this weekend. The league title holders won their sixth consecutive game last Tuesday night with a 98-81 victory over Sligo, and another two points here would put them within reach of the top for the first time this season.
Tolka have been showing some good form of their own with wins over Notre Dame and the Demons last weekend but the momentum appears set with Killester now and it appears inevitable that they will be in the final stages of the title race next March.
Waterford can hold onto their lead, however, if they manage to pick up the points from the meeting with Tralee. Elsewhere, there is an all-Northern tie between Star of the Sea and struggling Tyrone and the meeting of Limerick and the Demons.
Superleague Fixtures: Tonight - Tolka Rovers v Killester, 8.30; Tyrone v Star of the Sea, 8.30; Tomorrow - Notre Dame v Sligo, 7.30; Tralee v Waterford, 7.45; Sunday - Limerick v Demons, 3.15.
Squash: Madeline Perry returns to Fitzwilliam for the National Championships this weekend hoping to round off what has been a highly successful year on the professional circuit. Injury ended the Banbridge player's hopes of winning her fourth successive national title last year but since then she has broken in to the world's top 30, rising to 25 in the December rankings.
Cork's Eleanor Lapthorne is unable to defend the title she won for the first time last December when she beat Louise Finnegan in the final, but Perry's main challenge should come from Aisling Blake, the 20-year-old from Sligo who made her debut on the world circuit this year, halving her ranking in 12 months by climbing to 63rd.
Top men's seed Derek Ryan, who reached the semi-finals of the Czech Open last week, will attempt to inch ever closer to Willie Hosey's record 10 national titles at Fitzwilliam - Ryan's straight games victory over Liam Kenny in last year's decider gave him his seventh title.
All four of the men's team - Ryan, Kenny, Stevie Richardson and Patrick Foster - who equalled Ireland's best ever placing, 10th, at the World Championships in October, will be in action. The tournament, sponsored by Speedway Couriers, gets under way at 6.0 this evening with the women's final at 2.0 on Sunday and the men's at 3.0.
