But Carruth says he's a "competitive little fecker," and he, along with the 15 boxers from his club, is coming to Donnybrook 2024 this week to take back the title.
"There's no fighting Mexicans on Mexico day, there's no fighting Cubans on Cuba day, but there is fighting Irish on Irish day, and that's St. Patrick's Day," Carruth, the 1992 welterweight Olympic gold medalist, says.
Donnybrook 2024 rings in Saint Paddy's weekend on March 15 at Priory's Grand Hall on the North Side. The 15-bout matchup between local boxers and the Drimnagh Club raises funds to support the Ireland Institute of Pittsburgh, a local nonprofit dedicated to peace and reconciliation in Ireland.
Four undercards and an 11-bout primary fight will run from 5 to 10 p.m. between the Priory's white pillars. The chug-while-they-slug event will offer beverages to an expected crowd of roughly 500. Tickets are sold out.
The name Donnybrook comes from the Donnybrook horse fair held in Drimnagh starting in the 1200s, famous for the copious amounts of liquor consumed there, the shotgun marriages performed the days following it, and the frequent brawls that erupted throughout.
"It's for boxing fanatics — Pittsburgh has a great history of boxing here," Robert Tierney, vice president of the Ireland Institute of Pittsburgh, says. "It's a fantastic community event. There'll be beverages, and people just enjoying themselves. It'll be good craic, as we say here in Ireland."
Carruth trained and selected the 15 boxers from his 200-strong Drimnagh Boxing Club. They're up against a patchwork team of Pittsburgh talent, sourced from across the Allegheny Mountain USA Boxing Division by Pittsburgh team coordinator Richie Donnelly to match the Irish boys' ages, abilities, and weight classes.
The inaugural event was held in 2014 and started with a phone call between Jim Lamb, the president of Ireland Institute of Pittsburgh, and Carruth. Carruth says the event was a great opportunity for the boxers in his club, who are largely from the working-class neighborhood of Drimnagh.
"Some of our kids haven't been on an airplane before," Carruth says. "And to be picked for one among 15 — and we have over 200 boxers in this club — is a huge testament to them, as well."
Tierney says the tournament is a chance for the Ireland Institute of Pittsburgh to raise funds and further its mission of platforming Irish youth.
"We bring so many people together for one night for a fantastic event," Tierney says. "But the other thing is you are working with young people who may be from disadvantaged backgrounds. And it's kind of feeding into the original ethos of our organization to help young [people] and give them an opportunity."
The Ireland Institute of Pittsburgh was founded in 1989 — bookending the bloody peak of Northern Ireland's inter-state conflict — to promote understanding between the Protestants and Catholics who were still, by and large, at each other's throats.
As tensions eased into the 21st century, Ireland Institute of Pittsburgh shifted its focus to providing visas, social services, and program placement to young people and leading trade missions between Ireland and Southwestern Pennsylvania.
"It's a good fundraiser, but what it really is is a 'fun-raiser,'" Tierney says. "We have to be very conscious of our organization and what our mission is. Our mission can't be to fundraise. It's got to be giving these young people the opportunity to excel, build themselves, et cetera. And that's the main value that we want to see and can get from this."
After the tournament — and hoping he’ll have something to celebrate — Carruth says he and his boxers will bounce straight from the Pittsburgh St. Patrick's Day parade to the festivities in Dublin the next day. In Pittsburgh, he says he feels close to home.
"I've been to America 50 bloody times probably — I still love going to Pittsburgh," Carruth says. "We've made some great friends over there, as well; we really have."
Donnybrook 2024. 5-10 p.m. at Priory's Grand Hall. 614 Pressley St. https://www.pittsburghsgrandhall.com/
