Irish Boxers Ready For Amateur Championship In Dublin

ByBoxing Press

TJ Waite and Blaine Dobbins will raise the curtain on Friday’s National U/21 finals with an all-Ulster derby at Dublin’s National Stadium.

The Belfast versus Derry light-flyweight showdown is one of 20 finals slated for decision at the home of Irish boxing.

The Immaculata and Holy Trinity BC’s have three boxers each through to the deciders with Sean McComb meeting JD Meli in a 57Kg head-to-head which could have a bearing on which club takes home the most titles.

Sean McComb – a cousin of Gavin McComb, who boxes out of the Immaculata – Mark O’Hara and Conrad Cummings line out for the Holy Trinity and coach Michael Hawkins anticipates a few edge-of-the-seat affairs on Halloween weekend.

“It’s fantastic having another three into the National finals and we’re very much looking forward to Friday. Finals are always difficult and the important thing is to keep your focus and do the job at hand, he said.

“We’re expecting three tough finals We’ve been working on tactics this week and the lads are in terrific shape and we’re quietly confident that we will do well at the National Stadium.”

Meanwhile, 2009/10/11 Elite Senior finalists Tommy McCarthy and Ken Okungbowa will be between the ropes in the heavyweight and super-heavyweight categories on Friday night.

McCarthy, who has reached two Elite finals, meets Thomas Farrell, while Okungbowa faces Dubliner Sean Turner.

The Okungbowa/Turner three-rounder is a repeat of last August’s Open Unseeded Competition semi-final which Turner won on a second round stoppage.

Davey Joe Joyce clashes with Patrick McDonagh in the 81Kg final, while Gary Sweeney is in against Ciaran O’Griofa in an all-Connaught 85Kg duel.

Sweeney, who formerly boxed out of the All-Stars BC but who is now with the Mike Flaherty club in Galway, claimed a silver medal for Ireland at the 2011 European Youth Championships in Dublin.

Friday’s women’s finals will be contested between Michelle Chamber and Michelle Lynch, Emma Agnew and Laura Connolly-Murphy, who will be flying the flag for Cork, and Lisa Ward and Ciara Doyle.

Joel Scullion, Shane Roche, James Tennyson, Eamon Magee, Marc McLoughlin, Martin Wall, Ronan Date and Chris Blaney, who faces Cummings in an eagerly anticipated middleweight final, will also be in action at the home of Irish boxing.

Friday’s finals begin at 7pm.