Walsh coming into good form
Elite championships draw near
THE ANNUAL Liam Walsh Memorial boxing tournament attracted some top-class boxers to the Riverbank Hotel on Saturday night.
The leading contest involved Dean Walsh, grandson of the late Liam, who continued his preparations for the Elite Senior championships when he came up against Keith Slaven (Paulstown), last year’s Irish Under-22 champion.
Walsh, who has stepped up his training over recent weeks, sparkled in this contest, taking all three rounds to win a unanimous decision after what was one of his best shows of the season so far.
Walsh will weigh in for the Elite championships on February 4 when he will be hoping to go on and take his fifth consecutive Senior title.
In another top contest, Emmet Gahan from the St. Ibar’s/ St. Joseph’s club was having his first-ever competitive bout.
Boxing at Under-15 level, he turned in a quality show against his more experienced opponent, only losing out on a split decision to J.J. Tuite (Esker).
In Under-16, Jack Murphy (St. Ibar’s/St. Joseph’s) maintained his progress with an impressive victory over Tadgh Nolan (Esker), while a second Jack Murphy and Adrian Baiwoloski (both St. Ibar’s/ St. Joseph’s) lost out on split decisions to James Uzze (Drimnagh) and Luke McDaid (Esker) respectively.
On the national front, in the Under-22 championships, there was no joy for Wexford boxers in the National Stadium on Friday, with Conor Jordan (St. Aidan’s, Ferns) losing out to M. Corcoran (Corinthians) in the 52 kg.
Meanwhile, Michael Kinsella (St. Anthony’s/St. Patrick’s) lost his 64 kg. contest to K. Doyle (Monkstown).
Seán Dempsey (Sacre Coeur), who defeated the favourite David Joyce in his Under-18 weight division, will be hoping to go one better this Friday night and bring a national title back to the Enniscorthy club.