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Danny O’Connor’s Gillette Stadium Fight Part of Larger Plan to Expand Boxing in Boston (Video)

Early in Danny O'Connor's career, the Framingham native and former Olympic boxer didn't fight in his home state much. He piled up a 17-1 career record as a professional, but most of his dirty work came at out-of-state arenas. Nowadays, however, O'Connor is "bringing it back to the city" in a big way.

Eight days ago, O'Connor participated in the first-ever boxing match at Gillette Stadium, after a New England Revolution match, taking on and defeating Eddie Soto of Pawtucket, and improving his win total to 18.

Though O'Connor is a high-profile boxer, much of his current focus — aside from his work in the gym — is in expanding the boxing consciousness in the Boston area, and he's teamed up with area legends such as Micky Ward and Dropkick Murphys bassist and lead singer Ken Casey. Even Bruins forward Shawn Thornton showed up for the match, and based on his fighting ability on the ice here's guessing he could do well mixing it up in the ring.

Watch the video above for a litany of interviews from O'Connor's big night.