Irish Elite Championships 2013 Round up

2013 will be a busy year for Amateur Boxing with the European Championships in May and the World Championships in Astana in October. Traditionally the winners of the Irish seniors are the men that will represent Ireland at these Championships. But with defending Champions John Joe Nevin, Paddy Barnes, Con Sheehan and Michael McDonagh all missing from the tournament through illness and injury, others had the opportunity to state their claim for a spot on the plane later this year. These Championships showed how much strength in depth Ireland, considering the population and participation rate, has in numerous weights.

With double Olympic Bronze medallist Barnes missing due to the flu, a new 49Kg champion would be crowned for the first time in seven years. Hugh Myres, Silver medallist at the European U23's recently, was the favourite to take the title and he duly obliged. Having defeated Adam Courtney in the Semi's, he dispatched TJ Waite 17-8 in the final to lift his first senior title and will more than likely box Barnes for a spot on the European Championships Team.

Olympic Bronze medalist Michael Conlan won his third straight Senior title. Rauri Dalton was his first victim, Conlan winning by a score of 30-14 before he defeated Chris Phelan by 20-9 to show he is Ireland's best flyweight. With his World ranking of three, he will be a serious medal contender at both Championships.

Declan Geraghty was victorious in the 56kg divIsion in the absence of Nevin. He defeated Gary McKenna by a score of 16-7 in the final, having stopped Derek Thorpe in his semi final. In the build up to the final there was a bit of trash talk between Geraghty and Nevin, with Geraghty stating that he would have on the tournament regardless of Nevin's participation. Nevin took offence, taking to twitter to tell the world that he knocked Geraghty out in sparring. The box-off between the two should be interesting.

With Michael McDonagh unable to box due to injuries sustained in a car accident, a new 60kg boxer would be crowned. The favourites were Davey Oliver Joyce and Eric Donovan, but both fell at the Semi final stage to George Bates and Sean McComb respectively. McComb emerged the victor on the night, winning by a score of 19-7. He is in pole position for the Lightweight spot, though there could be a box-off with McDonagh and Joyce could still be in the mix.

64 kg's produced one of the most eagerly anticipated finals, with defending champion Ross Hickey in against reigning European Champion Ray Moylette. Both had progressed relatively comfortably to the finals setting up a final that everyone knew would be tight. Hickey took the first round 4-3, but Moylette took the second to level it up at 8-8. Hickey came on strong at the last to take the title 15-11. Moylette has had an injury plagued last 10 months so it was good to see him on the comeback trail. Hickey will box at the European Championships, but hopefully Moylette can re-find the form of 2011 as he is, in my opinion, Ireland's top Light Welter.

69 kg's is strong in Ireland at the moment with Joe Joyce, William McLaughlin and defending champion Adam Nolan all expected to feature heavily. All three made it to the semi finals, where Mclaughlin defeated Joyce to set up a final with Nolan. Nolan boxed well over the first two rounds, using his height and reach advantages to good effect over the shorter, stockier McLaughlin to open a 16-5 advantage going into the last. What followed, and appears to happen all too regularly with Nolan, was a poor last round as McLaughlin came storming back catching Nolan and bullying him all over the ring. Whether it is stamina issue or a lack of concentration it needs to be addressed as at the bigger tournaments he will be punished for it. Inexplicably, the judges scored the last 7-7 to give Nolan the win by 23-12, which doesn't tell the story of the bout as he seemed close to being knocked out in that final round.

75 kg is another weight were Ireland has serious strength in depth. Darren O'Neill was the defending champion and favourite coming in, but would face tough opposition in form of Jason Quigley, Conrad Cummings and Roy Sheahan. And so it proved, O'Neill, Olympian and former European silver Medallist, lost on count back to Quigley, the reigning U23 European Champion in his first bout. The scores were tied at 13 all going at the end, Quigley was ruled the winner. In semi finals, Quigley defeated Cummings 17-14 in a hard fought battle to progress to the final. He faced Sheahan, who had moved up from Welterweight, for the title and was victorious by a score of 15-6. Quigley had probably the toughest route to the title than any other boxer in the tournament so deserves a lot of credit.

The 81Kg final was a replay of the previous two as Joe Ward squared off against Irish boxing legend, Kenny Egan. Ward was victorious in the previous two finals and made it three in a row, with a savage display of power punching to take the win by a margin of 25-5. Ward was 8-2 up after the first, and rocked Egan in the second to force a count extending his lead to 21-3 going into the last. Ward cruised the last, and is now a three time champion at the age of just 19. The scoring was very harsh on Egan, Ward was always in control but not by a margin of 18 points after the first two. Egan announced his retirement after the bout, which is a shame, as he showed he is still a world class Light Heavy. But with 10 senior titles, an Olympic Silver medal and a plethora of international honours, he can hold his head high and will go down with Carruth, McCullough et al in the annals of Irish boxing history.

Tommy McCarthy retained his 91kg title, again by a third round stoppage. McCarthy had won his two previous contests at a canter before dropping Jimmy Sweeney twice in the third to end it early. McCarthy, a World Youth medalist and Commonwealth Games silver medalist, is a natural puncher and at the age of 22, has time on his side to step up on the international scene.

Sean Turner was the 91+Kg champion, in the absence of the injured Con Sheehan. He defeated Niall Kennedy in the final by a score of 21-8 to take the title. A box off with Sheehan is a certainty for the Super Heavy spot on the team.

Katie Taylor boxed her first bout since the 2012 games, squaring off against the six time Polish national Champion, Karolina Graczyk. Taylor showed why she is regarded as the greatest female amateur on the planet, as she hammered her Polish counterpart, forcing two standing counts in the third round to emerge victorious by a score of 28-5.

Full list of winners:

(1) 49kg: (Light-flyweight) – Hugh Myres (Ryston) beat TJ Waite (Cairn Lodge) 17-8

(2) 57kg: (Featherweight) – Michaela Walsh (Holy Family) beat Joanna Lambe (Carrickmacross) 14-13

(3) 52kg: (Flyweight) – Michael Conlan (St John Bosco) beat Chris Phelan (Ryston) 20-9

(4) 64kg: (Light-welter) – Ross Hickey (Grangecon) beat Ray Moylette (St Anne’s) 15-11

(5) 56kg: (Bantamweight) – Declan Geraghty (Crumlin) beat Gary McKenna (Old School) 16-7

(6) 60kg: (Lightweight) – Sean McComb (Holy Trinity) beat George Bates (St Mary’s) 19-7

(7) 75kg: (Middleweight) – Jason Quigley (Finn Valley) beat Roy Sheahan (St Michael’s Athy) 15-6

(8) 91kg: (Heavyeweight) – Tommy McCarthy (Oliver Plunkett) beat Jimmy Sweeney (Drimnagh) KO3

(9) 81kg: (Light-heavyweight) – Joe Ward (Moate) beat Ken Egan (Neilstown) 25-5

(10) Additional Bout 60kg: (Lightweight) – Katie Taylor (Ireland) beat Karolina Grazcyk (Poland) 28-5

(11) 69kg: (Welterweight) – Adam Nolan (Bray) beat Willie McLaughlin (Illies GG) 23-12

(12) 54kg: (Bantamweight) – Dervla Duffy(Ryston) beat Michelle Lynch (Golden Gloves) RSC2

(13) 64kg: (Light-welterweight) – Kelly Harrington (Corinthians) beat Sarah Close (Holy Family) 13-10

(14) 91+kg: (Super-heavyweight) – Sean Turner (Drimnagh) beat Niall Kennedy (Gorey) 21-8



Boxer of the Tournament (Adam Nolan, Bray BC)

Fantastic write up, 6oldenbhoy - really appreciate these. I know I mentioned it in one of your last articles, but I think having an amateur section set up on the boxing board might be a handy thing, as I and a few others still go to these shows and I'd definitely do a couple of write ups to when I have the time for it.

Anyway, thanks for this again, great stuff!

GB - would you like this up on the journal??

If so, drop me a PM along with your name you would like to use.

Cheers Chris, don't mind doing them. I'm heading down to the WSB on Friday to see Lomachenko at first hand (Can not wait) so will be posting another write up of that whenever I get the chance.

As Kenny Egan has announced his retirement, I wouldn't mind doing one for that either. He has been a credit to the Irish boxing scene over the past decade plus, 13 consecutive finals and winning the first ten isn't an easy feat especially in Ireland. Also a former 606er I believe.