Garden boys give Dubs a big battle
Boxers from all over Wicklow compete
ARKLOW and boxers from all over Wicklow showed their mettle when they took on a team from Dublin in the Arklow Bay Hotel on Saturday night last.
It was helter-skelter all night long at this well-attended event and all the boxers should be congratulated for performing so well on the night.
To the action then and in the opening bout, Sean Fleming had a ding dong battle with Darrell Proctor from the Neilstown club.
Both boys exchanged combinations in a close encounter. Daniel Feokrytov was Arklow's top underage boxer of the night. He had no problem giving a year to Craig Kenneddy from Neilstown and scored with brilliant counter punching throughout.
Eimhin McCormack was giving a year and a weight division to Daniel O'Flaherty from Neilstown but that was no problem to Eimhin who scored with solid rights to the head and moved well which impressed the judges. Daniel Byrne was a last minute replacement and scored well, always attacking against Bernard Lowery, also from the Neilstown club.
Liam Somers renewed his rivalry with Adam Sinnott of Wicklow Boxing Club. Both boys had won one each previously but Liam was the stronger boxer forcing the pace in all three rounds to win clearly.
Josh Whitmore had a hard fought battle with Myles Marcus Sheridan from Gorey with both boys swapping combinations.
In the end Myles won by a very close split decision. Tomas Lynch won out with a tremendous battle with Leon Thompson from Neilstown. Both boys impressed with their attacking ability, Tomas using his jab well to sway the judges.
JJ Sibley from Gorey lost a tough bout against Bill Stokes from Neilstown while another Gorey boy, Lee Byrne, was up again it with Killian Geraghty from Neilstown.
Leinster Champion Sean Crowley gave a year to Devin White from Neilstown but the Arklow boxer's footwork and fast countering made a good win look easy as he picked off the Dublin boy.
Leinster Champion Liam Moore had a good test match with Aiden Long from Rathnew. Liam's jab and two handed attacks looked impressive and the Arklow boy showed super fitness to finish with ease.
Aaron Tuke had a good win against Kian Marah from Rathnew, keeping the Rathnew boxer on the back foot for all three rounds.
Alan Dempsey had a great start against Peter Fabian from Crumlin but allowed the Dublin boxer to come back in the second.
With all to go for in the final round, Alan attacked the Dublin boxer but lost on a split decision.
Darragh Keenan got back to winning ways with a workmanlike performance against Joe McDonald from Crumlin.
Both boxers had some success in the first and second rounds but Darragh worked his jab well in the final round to clinch the decision.
Aaron Lyons had a great test match with the talented Dean McMillan from Crumlin. Both boxers slugged it out right to the end and was a great crowd pleaser.
In the final bout of the night, Leinster Elite Champion, Fergal Redmond, had a good win against PJ Conroy of Crumlin, scoring well with good two-handed attacks to head and body.
Arklow officials are thankful for all the supporters who attended on such a wet night and thanks to Pat and Veronica Fitzgerald who were main sponsors and thanks to all our other raffle prize sponsors and the staff of Arklow Bay Hotel
Next week will be the turn of the Arklow girls who take part in the Girls Leinster Championships in Dundalk. Arklow have three entries, Leanne Doyle, Isabelle Dempsey, and Megan Myler and all three are skillful and expected to do well.
Arklow's three Leinster championss will be in action in the Nationals the week after Easter. Good luck to them.
Meanwhile the club have been invited to send a team to Gorey and Crumlin to box on Good Friday and the club are hoping to match their newcomers in the final home tournament in the club in early May.