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IABA UPDATE (NATIONAL U/21 CHAMPIONSHIPS FINALS)

posted by mightygloves.com on October 19, 2007, in Amateur

Courtesy of Bernard O'Neill

The National U/21 Championships concluded at the National Stadium in Dublin tonight with twelve top class finals at the home of Irish Amateur Boxing.

The impressive Gary McDonagh claimed the first title of the evening courtesy of a skilful high-tempo victory over Sean Donnellan. McDonagh
was 10 points ahead at the end of the first and then added another nine to his total before the end of the second before tagging on one point
early in the third to have the contest stopped automatically.

The all Ulster flyweight final between Marc McCullagh and Ruairi Dalton was a much tighter affair with both landing some neat shots in a first round that ended all square at 2-2. Neither boxer managed to register a score in an extremely cagey second, but Dalton edged ahead by a single point in the third thanks to a superb left hook near the end of the round. However, McCullough restored parity three times in the final round before landing two shots in quick succession to take the bantamweight title.

Defending champion James Upton had been hoping to win his second featherweight title on the trot in his all Dublin decider with Gavin Keating.
But Keating produced a top drawer performance to take the honours from an explosive encounter which saw both boxers receive two public warnings
each in the third and fourth rounds.

The lead changed hands twice in the first two rounds of the lightweight clash between Stephen Donnelly and John Murray and both fighters were level at twelve points apiece going into the fourth. The lead was exchanged again in a thrilling final round which saw Donnelly take the fight to a countback with virtually the last punch of the bout. However, it wasn't enough for the Saints man as Murray got the decision.

Jamie Kavanagh and Adam Nolan were involved in one of the lowest scoring bouts of the evening. But the four rounder was no less intriguing
and the bout was still in the balance going into the fourth until Kavanagh found his range to emerge victorious by a margin of four points.

Meanwhile, there was double disappointment for the Westside club in welterweight final after Paul Upton lost out to Christy Boyle. Upton put in a brave performance in the encounter but could never turn things around against an opponent who produced an excellent third round and then opened up in the fourth for a well deserved victory.

Stephen O'Reilly had been hoping to win his second light middleweight title on the trot and the expense of Michael Collins. But Collins was
leading all the way until he received a public warning for holding with 15 seconds remaining. Collins was one point ahead at that stage courtesy of a fine overhead right.


Brian Brosnan was forging his way to victory after taking the first two rounds in his middleweight final with Martin Lynch. But Lynch forced the Olympics man into a standing count in the third en route to reducing to deficit to just one point. Brosnan found a second wind in the final round however,and despite taking another standing count won by a margin of five points.

"It was a long time coming and I am thrilled with the victory. It was a very tough fight and he came back at me very strong in the final two rounds,"
said Brosnan as he was being presented with his trophy.

Meantime, Michael F Ward landed the first of two titles for the Galway Boxing after getting a very close decision over Ciaran McAuley and Patrick
Corcoran ensured it was a double celebration with a convincing victory over John Stokes from the Loughglynn club, also in Connaught.

In the heavyweight final, Con Sheehan ensured that Munster would be taking home one title when he recorded a commanding victory over Luke Cadden, who to his credit never stopped trying to salvage something from this bout. Sheehan forced his opponent into a standing count in the second with a stinging right and then opened up an 18 point advantage before the end of the third.

The last bout of the 2006 U/21 National Championships went to David Joyce. The Moate man was always on top in this super heavyweight clash,
taking the opening two rounds. His opponent, Martin Stokes, registered his first four points in the third, but Joyce responded in kind to convincingly take the next two rounds.

Declan Geraghty claimed the light flyweight title after receiving a walkover.

Speaking after the final bell for the Championships, IABA President Dominic O'Rourke complimented everyone concerned for what he described as a top class tournament.

He said: "This years National U/21 Championships produced some top class boxing from the preliminary rounds up and I would like to thank
all the boxers, their coaches and the clubs for their contribution to what was a fantastic tournament.

"I would also like to thank our sponsors and everyone involved with the running of this tournament for all their hard work and dedication over
the last two weekends."

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