22 champions were crowned at the Irish National Elite Championships tonight.
IT WAS A case of friends-turned-foes at the National Stadium this evening as Kelyn Cassidy blasted through best pal Gabriel Dossen in the stand-out bout of this, and many other, year’s Irish National Elite Championships.
With five boxers – Kellie Harrington, Aoife O’Rourke, Michaela Walsh, Jack Marley, and Dean Clancy – already assured of places in Paris following their exploits at the European Games earlier this year, attention was focused primarily on the remaining eight Olympic weight categories. Advertisement The Galway dynamo had shot into the mainstream consciousness when he claimed 2022 European gold in the non-Olympic middleweight division. However, his Olympic plans were thrown into disarray when he was issued a suspension from the IABA related to 2021 legal issues which prevented him from competing in the 2023 Irish Elites and the subsequent Olympic qualifier, with Cassidy meanwhile climbing to new heights.
The difficulty of boxer selection is perhaps no more evident than at welterweight. Offaly’s Gráinne Walsh was the story of the last tournament, defeating light-welterweight world champion Amy Broadhurst only for the Dundalk southpaw to be chosen for the European Games. Broadhurst also fell one win short of Olympic qualification but did not enter here due to a shoulder injury.
The most talent-packed division was undoubtedly featherweight and it was Tyrone’s Jude Gallagher who emerged on top. Having beaten Commonwealth gold and European silver medallist Dylan Eagleson in the semis last night, the Newtownstewart power-puncher was too strong for Galway’s Adam Hession here. Gallagher, a Commonwealth gold medallist himself, took the bout on a unanimous decision and will now look forward to the qualifiers where he will hope for a better draw.
In terms of those already there, Dublin lightweight Harrington and Belfast featherweight Walsh both have a second Games to look forward to next Summer but the pair created Irish history with their respective victories over Tramore’s Zara Breslin and Dubliner Kellie McLoughlin. Their comfortable unanimous wins saw both increase their Irish Elite tallies to eleven, lifting them above Olympic silver medallist Kenneth Egan and Enniscorthy’s Jim O’Sullivan.
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