Kanturk Boxing Club off to a flyer
IT’S been a whirlwind opening to the Kanturk Boxing Club’s fifth successive season as the club have already brought home one Celtic Box Cup Champion and two Esker Box Cup Champions back to Kanturk in a matter of a few weeks.
The opening competition of the season was from September 29 to October 1 as the 2016 G6 50kg champion, Chloe O’Keeffe, entered into the Celtic Box Cup in Dungarvan, Waterford in hopes of kick-starting her season on a notable high. The entries list that had been released previously had Chloe in a category that would give her a straight final, but unfortunately her opponent failed to weigh in either days of the competition opening weigh in, earning Chloe the Celtic Box Cup title by way of walkover. Last weekend (October 13-15) saw the Kanturk Boxing Club make their first trip to Dublin of the season as they entered the Esker All Female Box Cup in Lucan with Chloe being joined by her sisters, Leah and Katie, in representing their small north Cork club across a flurry of boxers from all over the country, and outside the country. Boxers hailed from a wide variation of countries - England, Sweden and Canada, to name a few.
The draw was released hours after the opening competition weigh in, and Katie and Leah O’Keeffe were first to represent their club on Saturday as they were in finals in their respective categories.
Katie was first in and was against a very clever opponent from Ryston BC, Co. Kildare. Despite the experience Katie’s opponent had, the national champion was seemingly unphased and came away from the bout with a split-decision win over the Kildare native, naming Katie as the Esker Box Cup champion 2017.
Next in for Kanturk was Leah, who was drawn to box a young girl from England. Leah’s opponent was again another impressive opponent, who attempted to pressure Leah with a flurry of punches, but despite Leah’s young age she was clever to keep her head, and kept her boxing to the proper technical style that works so well for her. Leah was clever in knowing that her jab above anything was securing her points, and when the opportunity opened for Leah to work her back hand it just added to it.
Leah came away from the fight with a unanimous decision against her English opponent, earning herself the Esker Box Cup title only an hour or so after her younger sister claimed a title. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for the oldest of the O’Keeffe sisters as Chloe was in the ring for her club on Sunday afternoon hoping to get a hat-trick for herself and her sisters. Chloe was boxing a very experienced young girl from Ballina, Co. Mayo and unfortunately, even though there was aspects of Chloe’s boxing that were working for her, her luck ran out.
The Kanturk Boxing Club will be back training almost immediately, as Leah and Chloe are now in training for the return match of the Cork-Bristol Boxing Exchange, which will be held in Bristol at the end of the month.