Holders have to work for Wicklow Cup win
BALLYMORE HOLLYWOOD Boxing Club held their end of year tournament in Poulaphouca House on Saturday, December 3.
A large support witnessed a great display of high class boxing with a number of Leinster and Irish contenders in action.
The night started with an closely contested exhibition bout involving local boxer Glen McStay and Ryan Connelly from St. Conleth’s. Next, Dan Murphy faced reigning Leinster champion Cody O’Reilly from St. Joseph’s, Edenderry. Despite a promising opening round from Murphy it was the Edenderry champion who got the decision unanimously.
Jack Sammon, Ballymore Hollywood’s Leinster champion and Irish silver medallist was next in action and he faced the tenacious James Carthy, of Athy. This was a really close bout with Jack jabbing well and Carthy getting in close to land left hooks. It was the Athy boxer who got the nod on a split decision after a really close bout.
Hard hitting Thomas Byrne at Youth1 70kg faced Dave Ryan, of St. Joseph’s and started confidently, dominating the opening exchanges. Ryan, a tough customer, rallied in the second round but Byrne was in no mood to lose in front of his home crowd and upped the work rate to ensure he got a clear decision after an exciting bout.
Next up, it was the turn of the younger boxers as Calvin Doyle faced Tadhg Swain, from St. Joseph’s. Both guys showed accurate punching and tidy footwork for this exhibition bout which was useful in the development of both of these young boxers.
Ballymore Hollywood’s Leinster bronze boxer, Sean Metcalfe faced Leinster champion Aodhan Byrne, from Kilcullen, for another three-round exhibition bout, before Willie Eager gave a great display of accurate punching to dispatch with Ciaran O’Reilly, from St. Conleth’s, on a unanimous decision.
Ciaran Coyne had a comfortable win over Callum Mooney, of St. Conleth’s, before Eoin Curley faced Luke Byrne, from Grangecon. Eoin showed no signs of his recent illness, landing some telling right hands and took a unanimous verdict against the tough Grangecon man.
Conor Gilroy boxed well against Adam O’Brien, of St. Conleth’s, to take the win before one of the marquee fights of the night began.
Brian Keogh, Ballymore Hollywood’s Leinster Boy 3 75kg champion faced Irish champion and Lithuanian representative at the European Schoolboy’s Championship, Nojus Ivanauskas, from Clane Boxing club.
Keogh went straight to work from the start of the fight and swarmed the big Clane man. Nojus found the target with a number of well placed shots but in the end it was to be Brian Keogh who got the unanimous decision after a high octane display.
Brian Gilroy was next up, facing Josh O’Reilly from St. Josephs. Brian gave a great display of boxing technique to pick off his opponent, and got the decision unanimously.
It was first time out for Charlie Litton and the Ballymore lad didn’t disappoint after showing a neat jab and some tidy footwork to get the decision over Jake Farrell of St. Joseph’s.
Darragh Gilroy got reacquainted with tough southpaw Martin Stokes, from St. John Bosco’s Moutmellick, who he had met in the Michael Andrews final the previous year. Stokes was out for revenge and pressed forward relentlessly throughout trying to turn the tables and make a brawl out of the contest. Darragh picked him off and still did enough to get a unanimous decision after an eventful contest.
Sam Murphy faced another Mountmellick based opponent in the talented John McDonagh, Irish silver medallist and Leinster champion. This was an enthralling contest, with Sam boxing directly with excellent footwork against the uncompromising bursts of energy emanating from McDonagh who threw a number of arcing left hooks throughout. This was all-action stuff with the audience on the edge of their seats. The judges also had difficulty separating these talented boxers but the decision came out as a 2-1 majority decision in favour of Sam Murphy.
Next up was a contest of contrasting styles. The hard-hitting Adam Farrell faced Jack Donnelly, from Ryston BC, in Newbridge, a boxer known for an industrious work rate. The first round saw Donnelly get a lot of joy, scoring and moving but he was caught by a big right which knocked him out of his stride. Adam dominated in the second round and did enough to win the contest via stoppage.
In the last fight of the night, Ben Burke faced Dean Powell from Kilcullen and Ben was in top form winning the contest on a unanimous decision after a very dominant display.
The best home boxer of the night was awarded to young southpaw Brian Gilroy after a very tidy and technical display of boxing skill.