25/04/2003
Boxing legend set to visit Belfast
Boxing legend Smokin' Joe Frazier is set to arrive in Belfast next week as guest of honour at the first Belfast Sports Achievers Awards.
Lord Mayor Alex Maskey, who will host the event, invited Frazier - famed for his fights with Muhammed Ali - to Belfast when he met the former champ during a visit to the United States earlier this year.
Sportsmen and women from more than 30 different sporting disciplines have been invited to the event, the first awards ceremony of its type, which has been organized by the Lord Mayor to honour Belfast’s own sports stars and clubs for their achievements, at both amateur and professional level, over the past 12 months.
The Lord Mayor said: "I am absolutely delighted that one of the true legends of sport, the former heavyweight boxing champion, Smokin’ Joe Frazier, has been able to come to Belfast to present the first Belfast Sporting Achievers Awards.
“As a sports lover myself, I feel it is important that the City of Belfast takes pride in the many dedicated sports people who themselves bring pride and honour to a City with a long and magnificent sporting heritage.
“That is why I decided to organise a reception to pay tribute to the achievements of those, from a wide variety of sports, who have captured the imaginations of sports fans in Belfast, and beyond, and brought sporting prestige home, often from the far corners of the world."
The Belfast Sports Achievers Awards will be held at the City Hall on Tuesday April 29th, commencing at 6.30pm.
(MB)
Lord Mayor Alex Maskey, who will host the event, invited Frazier - famed for his fights with Muhammed Ali - to Belfast when he met the former champ during a visit to the United States earlier this year.
Sportsmen and women from more than 30 different sporting disciplines have been invited to the event, the first awards ceremony of its type, which has been organized by the Lord Mayor to honour Belfast’s own sports stars and clubs for their achievements, at both amateur and professional level, over the past 12 months.
The Lord Mayor said: "I am absolutely delighted that one of the true legends of sport, the former heavyweight boxing champion, Smokin’ Joe Frazier, has been able to come to Belfast to present the first Belfast Sporting Achievers Awards.
“As a sports lover myself, I feel it is important that the City of Belfast takes pride in the many dedicated sports people who themselves bring pride and honour to a City with a long and magnificent sporting heritage.
“That is why I decided to organise a reception to pay tribute to the achievements of those, from a wide variety of sports, who have captured the imaginations of sports fans in Belfast, and beyond, and brought sporting prestige home, often from the far corners of the world."
The Belfast Sports Achievers Awards will be held at the City Hall on Tuesday April 29th, commencing at 6.30pm.
(MB)
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