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Belfast Live
Belfast Live
Entertainment
Sophie McLaughlin

Northern Irish comedians make Ulster Hall history as they raise big funds at charity boxing night

After five weeks of blood, sweat and tears – despite none of them "taking it seriously"– 16 comedians swapped the stand-up stage for the boxing ring in a night of craic, charity and uppercuts.

On Saturday night, the Ulster Hall held a one-off charity boxing event in aid of PIPs suicide prevention which saw our favourite comics push themselves out of their comfort zones.

The sold-out event was the hottest ticket in town, with fans who missed out able to donate £5 to the selected charity to access a live stream hosted by boxer Tyrone McKenna and comedian Dave Elliott.

Read more: Final countdown is on as NI comedians train for upcoming charity event

With almost 4,000 people donating to access the content, viewers were treated to special guests such as Aaron Butler, Ciaran Bartlett and Diona Doherty all adding their funny commentary to some of the matches.

With 'Master of Ceremonies' Conor Keys keeping the event running smoothly throughout the night, boxer-turned-comedian Tommy McCarthy played the role of announcer perfectly - using both his comedic timing and professional knowledge to keep the crowd entertained.

Ciaran Bartlett stopped the audience in their stride with a legendary performance of 'Eye of the Tiger' that no one was expecting and set the tone for the entire evening that this was going to be an event like no other.

In the red team, we had:

  • Ronan Boyle
  • Shane 'Sugar' Todd
  • Micky 'The Lurgan Surgeon' Bartlett
  • Pete 'The Punisher' Giffen
  • Heather 'Little B****' Anderson
  • Sean 'Smack Attack' McAleavey
  • Rachel 'The Matador' McPeake
  • Ian 'El Pandemonium' Thomson

And in the blue corner:

  • Paddy 'The Dagger' McDonnell
  • Johnny 'The Toddfather' Bow
  • Mark 'The Carnage' McCarney
  • Sean 'Hand Grenade' Hegarty
  • Sara Jade 'The Beast' Davidson
  • Darren 'The Bessbrook Bomber' Matthews
  • Claire 'Crusher' Corrigan
  • Cormac 'The Barrick Boy' Mac Diarmada

Proving on the night that they pack more than just a punchline, the winners were Cormac Mac Diarmada, Rachel McPeake, Darren Matthews, Heather Anderson, Sean Hegarty, Mickey Bartlett and Shane Todd.

In the most highly anticipated fight of the night between Paddy McDonnell and Ronan Boyle, the judges could not spilt the decision and awarded the fight a draw - all in the good name of charity.

The live stream can still be accessed via donation for those wishing to catch up on all the action here.

Money raised on the night and in the lead-up to the event are still being tallied, with the already hefty final total expected later in the week.

If you would still like to donate to the charity boxing fundraiser for PIPS, see here

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