![]() | This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations .(October 2012) |
Kid Shamrock is the Off Broadway play based on the life of former world rated boxer, "Irish" Bobby Cassidy.
The story tells of Cassidy's struggle and subsequent triumph over alcohol. Cassidy lost a fight to Jorge Ahumada on the undercard of the second Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier fight at Madison Square Garden. The Irish light heavyweight spent more time drinking than training for that fight, the biggest of his career. Cassidy turned the biggest loss of his career into a victory by quitting the bottle. He has not had a drink since April 1974. That night at the Garden is the basis for the play.
The play was written by Cassidy's older son, Bobby Cassidy Jr. There have been four productions of Kid Shamrock since 2007.
The calling card of the play is its authenticity. Numerous professional boxers have been cast throughout the production. Seamus McDonagh, who fought Evander Holyfield in 1990, has held the title role since the play's debut in 2007. Other professional boxers who have appeared in the play include, John Duddy, Mark McPherson, Tommy Rainone, Olympic gold medalist and WBA welterweight champion Mark Breland, WBO junior welterweight champion Christopher Algieri and five-time world champion Junior Jones. Cassidy Sr. serves as the play's narrator.
The referee for the play's boxing scenes have always been real referees. Wayne Kelly, who officiated more than 50 world title fights, held the role of referee until his passing in 2012. Ian McGrady understudied Wayne Kelly at the Atlantic Theater II production, and carried the dual roles of "Referee" and "Bartender" to the TADA Theater production. Arthur Mercante Jr., himself a ref in dozens of title fights, took over the role in August 2012.
Michael Bentt, the former WBO heavyweight champion, has been the play's director for the last two productions. Bentt starred as Sonny Liston opposite Will Smith in the 2001 film, "Ali." The last two runs of Kid Shamrock have been executive produced by David Schuster.
In August 2012, Schuster and boxing promoter Bob Duffy teamed to produce, "Shamrock in the Park," an outdoor presentation of the play that was followed by a nine-bout professional boxing card. Professional boxer Richie Neves acted in the play and later that evening won a six-round decision on the boxing card.
Mercante Jr. also performed in the play and refereed the live fights that followed.
Patrick Joseph Connolly and Vinny Vella, both of whom appeared in The Sopranos, are veteran Kid Shamrock cast members.
The World Boxing Council (WBC) is an international professional boxing organization. It is among the four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), International Boxing Federation (IBF) and World Boxing Organization (WBO).
Emile Alphonse Griffith was an American professional boxer who won world titles in three weight divisions. He held the world light middleweight, undisputed welterweight, and middleweight titles. His best-known contest was a 1962 title match with Benny Paret. Griffith won the bout by knockout; Paret never recovered consciousness and died in the hospital 10 days later.
Light middleweight, also known as junior middleweight or super welterweight, is a weight class in boxing but also may include other combat sports.
Michael Bentt is an American film and television actor, and former professional boxer who competed from 1989 to 1994. He was born in East Dulwich, London, but raised in the Cambria Heights section of Queens in New York City. Bentt won the WBO heavyweight title from Tommy Morrison in 1993, losing the title in his first defense in 1994 to Herbie Hide.
James Walter "Buddy" McGirt is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1982 to 1997, and has since worked as a boxing trainer. He held world championships in two weight classes, including the IBF junior welterweight title in 1988, and the WBC and lineal welterweight titles from 1991 to 1993.
In boxing, the undisputed champion of a weight class is the boxer who simultaneously holds world titles from all major organizations recognized by each other and the International Boxing Hall of Fame. There are currently four major sanctioning bodies: WBA, WBC, WBO, and IBF. There were many undisputed champions before the number of major sanctioning bodies recognizing each other increased to four in 2007, but there have been only 19 boxers to hold all four titles simultaneously.
Juan Manuel Márquez Méndez is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1993 to 2014. He is world champion in three weight classes, having held major titles from featherweight to lightweight, including the lineal championship at lightweight.
Yuri Foreman is an Israeli professional boxer who held the WBA super welterweight title from 2009 to 2010. He was born in Gomel, Belarus, but currently fights out of Brooklyn, New York. Foreman has also pursued Jewish religious studies during his boxing career, and in 2014 was ordained as a rabbi. He has been referred to as the "Boxing Rabbi."
Bobby Cassidy, born April 19, 1944, is a former professional boxer who fought from 1963 to 1980. Although born and raised in New York, Cassidy is of Irish lineage and fought under the name, "Irish" Bobby Cassidy.
Vasiliy Anatolyevich Lomachenko, also spelled Vasyl Anatoliyovych Lomachenko, is a Ukrainian professional boxer. He has held multiple world championships in three weight classes from featherweight to lightweight, including the International Boxing Federation (IBF) lightweight title since May 2024. Previously he held unified and Ring magazine titles at lightweight.
Timothy Ray Bradley Jr. is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2004 to 2016. He held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including the WBC light welterweight title twice between 2008 and 2011, the WBO light welterweight title from 2009 to 2012, and the WBO welterweight title twice between 2012 and 2016.
Mike Alvarado is an American professional boxer who held the WBO light welterweight title in 2013.
Jason Pagara is a Filipino professional boxer.
Miguel Cotto vs. Yuri Foreman, billed as Stadium Slugfest, was a boxing super welterweight fight for the WBA Super Welterweight championship. The bout was held on June 5, 2010, at Yankee Stadium, in New York City, United States. Cotto won the fight via technical knockout in the ninth round.
John Francis Duddy is an Irish actor and former professional boxer who fought from 2003 to 2010. He challenged once for the vacant WBC Silver middleweight title, losing in his final fight to Julio César Chávez Jr.
Terence Allan Crawford is an American professional boxer. He has held multiple world championships in three weight classes, from lightweight to welterweight, including the undisputed championship at light welterweight and welterweight. As of May 2024, he holds the World Boxing Association (WBA) and World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight titles.
Manny Pacquiao competed in professional boxing from 1995 to 2021. Regarded by boxing historians as one of the greatest professional boxers of all time, Pacquiao is the only boxer in history to win twelve major world titles in eight different weight divisions. He is also the first boxer in history to win the lineal championship in five different weight divisions, as well as being the first boxer in history to win major world titles in four of the original eight weight divisions of boxing, also known as the "glamour divisions": flyweight, featherweight, lightweight and welterweight.
Joseph DeGuardia is an American boxing promoter and lawyer. He is the founder and CEO of Star. Being the son of former professional boxer Joseph DeGuardia Sr., DeGuardia competed in the ring himself and achieved a successful amateur career. Among other titles, DeGuardia won the New York Golden Gloves Championship in 1988 while still attending law school at Hofstra University. In 1991, he took over the community-based Morris Park Boxing Club, which his father had founded, and relocated it to a new location.
Anthony Perez was an American boxing referee and judge of Puerto Rican descent. During his career, he refereed many major boxing fights and participated in a number of boxing related documentaries.
Jaron Ennis is an American professional boxer who has held the International Boxing Federation (IBF) welterweight title since 2023. As an amateur, he won a silver and gold medal at the U.S. National Golden Gloves Championships in 2014 and 2015 respectively.