This article is from page 68 of the 2011-02-22 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 68 JPG
CHAMPIONSHIP time has come round once again for Clare’s Juvenile and Junior boxers and tournaments are much sought after by boxers and coaches alike to flex the muscles and avail of the competitive action.
Wednesday night last saw teams from Our Lady of Lourdes Club in Limerick and from the Tuam club in Galway doing battle against the local fighters in the local Community Centre, and the local boxing enthusiasts were treated to a great night’s boxing with eleven bouts of excellent quality.
A battle of rare quality between Tuam’s double Irish Champion Mike Ward and Ennis native Jim Keenan who now boxes out of the Our Lady of Lourdes was technically the pick of the action , with southpaw Keenan paying scant respect to Ward’s vaunted reputation and serving up a battle royal in the process.
Keenan trailed going into the last round, finding his range with the southpaw left with excellent effect in the third and final round, but at this stage the talented Ward had built an unassailable lead on all three judges cards.
There were good wins for championship contenders Jamie Keane, Keelan Sexton and Brian and John McDonagh and with the sides tied at 5-5 the final contest at Heavyweight suddenly assumed massive importance.
Ennis fighter Mark Fitzgerald pitted against Limerick’s William Mc- Namara for the team trophy had now become the catalyst.
Fitzgerald, a powerful no-nonsense fighter made all the right moves, using his left jab to great effect as he built up a 7-3 lead in the first and while McNamara moved well in the second and third rounds, he could not find the target with his right cross to trouble Fitzgerald.
Fitzgerald was dominant as he chalked up an impressive 18-10 winning margin in only his first major fight, having previously boxed in the White Collar extravaganza.
Clare boxers will now look forward to the Munster and Irish Championships over the next three weeks and hopes are high for a major boxing show in Ennis at the end of March featuring all of the Champions from these tournaments..
Results
48 Kg Boys Ml Galbraith (Ennis) Bt JasonWard (Tuam) Seamus Boyle (Ennis) lost to Jack Ward (Tuam) 52 Kg Brian McDonagh (Es) Bt DavidWard (Tuam) Jamie Keane (Ennis) Bt Ricky Mongan (Olympic) 70 Kg Boy 3 Keelan Sexton (Ennis) Bt JonathanWard (Tuam) 48 Kg Boy 4 Patrick Flynn (Ennis) lost to Jonathan Creed (Tuam) 66 KgYouth 1 JimKeenan (OLOL Lk) lost to MikeWard (Tuam) 57 Kg Boy 4 Dara Lomax Ennis) lost to Terry Harris (OLOL Lk) 60 Kg Youth 1 John McDonagh (Es) Bt Geoff Mulqueen (OLOL) 70 Kg Int. Martin Keenan (Ennis) lost to Niall McDermott (OLOL) Heavyweight Mark Fitzgerald (Ennis) Bt WmMcNamara (OLOL)