IRISH boxing chief Dominic O’Rourke reckons that some of the stars of the London 2012 Olympics will be on show in Donegal next weekend.
Ireland will meet England, Germany and France over three days in a round-robin tournament at the Jackson Hotel, Ballybofey starting next Friday evening.
According to O’Rourke, president of the Irish Amateur Boxing Association (IABA), all four nations have named very strong underage sides.
He said: “England have named a strong squad, as have the Germans and the French, and we have assembled an experienced panel for this level also. You only have to look at the names of some of the boxers to know that this is going to be a top class tournament and we are quietly confident that we will do well.
“Quality tournaments like this can only help in the development of our underage squads ahead of the London Olympics, when most of our boxers will be in their prime.”
Four members of the Irish panel – Peter Brady, Tyrone McCullough, John Murray and Michael Collins – claimed Irish Intermediate titles at the National Stadium last Friday night.
Stephen O’Reilly, who has also been named in the Irish squad, lost his Intermediate final on Friday to Galway’s Brian Brosnan, but is still the reigning Irish U21 champion and a European gold medallist.
Meanwhile, Gavin Keating paid tribute to his twin brother’s bravery after claiming his own Irish Intermediate title at the National Stadium.
Nineteen-year-old twins Graham and Gavin, from the St Saviour OBA club in Dublin, went head-to-head in the 57kg featherweight final at the South Circular Road venue. But it was Gavin – the current Irish U21 champion – who emerged victorious from the history-making decider, taking all four rounds to claim a 15–2 victory.
Gavin said: “I thought that Graham boxed very well and it was very competitive in the first round; there was definitely no holding back. Graham beat me already this year and he is a top class boxer.
“We made the decision before the championships to box each other if we were drawn together. The great thing about the final was that it guarantees our club a title and I am very proud to have won it.”
The 2007 National Intermed-iate Championships concluded last Friday with 12 finals at the home of Irish amateur boxing.
Peter Brady was the first boxer to have his hand raised in victory when was awarded the light flyweight title after receiving a walkover against Declan Geraghty, who had to withdraw because of an ear infection.
Tyrone McCullough claimed the flyweight title with a very convincing victory over Chris Rice, forcing his fellow Ulsterman into a standing count en route to having the fight stopped automatically in the third round on the 20-point rule.
If McCullough’s route to victory proved to be conclusive, the bantamweight clash between Daniel Coughlin and Glen Murray was anything but, with both boxers taking turns to edge into the lead in the opening two rounds.
However, Coughlin did some good work at the end of the second round and consolidated his lead with some sharp left jabs to take the third comprehensively, before closing out the fourth – despite receiving a public warning – to win Munster’s first title of the tournament.
Meanwhile, John Murray, an Irish U/21 champion, had to come from behind to see off the challenge of Limerick’s Ger Casey. The Shannonsider took the first round but Murray moved steadily up through the gears to chalk up a very convincing victory.
Jamie Kavanagh, who also won an Irish U21 title in October, finished on top of the podium courtesy of a 13–4 win over Niall McGinley, and Mark McNamara brought the 67kg title back to the St Francis club in Limerick following a thriller with Shane McKeown.
McNamara actually took three standing counts in the final two rounds of this showdown as McKeown pulled out all the stops, but ultimately it was McNamara’s cleaner punching, particularly in the earlier rounds, that paved the way for victory.
Confusion reigned in the cruiserweight final with the red corner retiring their man in the fourth when he was already ahead. Danny Tourish was boxing out of the red corner and was six points up when the decision was taken to end his involvement, thus handing Brian Barrett – a cousin of former Irish Olympian Francis Barrett – the 85kg title.
Martin Collins, meanwhile, ensured that the Darndale club were celebrating following an impressive victory over Phelim Halligan. However, heavyweight William Byrne denied the Darndale club the double after a hard-hitting clash with John F Connors.
Byrne didn’t begin to find his range until the third and had to endure a period of pressure in the final round before being declared winner by a ten-point margin.
In the evening’s final contest, Four Nations University champion Eamon Higgins was knocked out in the first round of the 91kg clash following a superb right from Irish U21 champ David Joyce.
In pro news, unbeaten Irish middleweight Andy Lee has declined to engage in verbal sparring will Irish light heavyweight champion Jason McKay ahead of their battle at the National Stadium in Dublin on 15 December.
Both men will go head-to-head for the vacant Irish super middleweight title at the home of Irish amateur boxing, but Co Down-born McKay, who has won 18 of his 19 pro fights, is not too impressed with the calibre of Lee’s opponents so far.
McKay has also taken the liberty to advise Lee that the professional game is “very different”, a view that the Limerick southpaw might be forgiven a wry smile at as he turned professional in March 2005 and has yet to lose a fight or even drop a round in his 13 fights so far.
McKay said: “Andy was a brilliant amateur. You only need to look at the medals he won to see that. But the pro game is very, very different and I believe this is the first time he’ll have a really ambitious opponent in the opposite corner.
“People say he fought a former world champion in just his eighth fight but when Carl Daniels was in his prime, Andy was still in diapers. He took a round longer than Stephen Haughian to beat a blown-up light welterweight and Stephen’s only a welterweight himself.
“And Ciaran Healy only had a week’s notice for his fight with Lee, so he certainly hasn’t been tested yet. But I can guarantee you I’ll test him.”
Lee, 23, actually stopped Healy at the end of the fourth round at the Point in Dublin last August, while McKay, 30, was taken the distance by Healy in 2004 before being awarded a points victory.
The last time that Lee, who now boxes out of the Kronk Gym in Detroit, fought at the National Stadium, he comfortably beat Cuban national champion Yordanis Despaigne as part of the Irish-dominated Four Nations amateur side that hammered Cuba 6–2.
Lee said: “I’m not one for making predictions because you can say what you like, but ultimately your performance in the ring should speak for itself.
“I’ve seen Jason a couple of times and he’s very solid. He does all the fundamentals very well so it has the makings of a great fight. I think it will probably be the hardest fight of my career to date because I’m meeting a guy who’s in his prime.”
The undercard at the National Stadium on 15 December will feature John O’Donnell, Eddie Hyland, Declan Timlin, Michael Sweeney, Lukasz Wawrzyczek and Paul Truscott.
