This article is from page 59 of the 2011-04-19 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 59 JPG
SOME of Clare’s top boxing talent are preparing for a crucial week of competitive action.
Hopes abound for all three Ennis boxers who have won their Provincial titles and now go forward to contest the National Juvenile Championships at the National Stadium in Dublin, getting under way on Easter Monday and continuing through Easter Week. Conor Doyle boxes in the 46 Kilo class in only his first year in Championship Boxing while Brian McDonagh contests the 46 Kilo Boy 2 class and is in with a great chance of victory. 70 Kilo Boy 3 contender Keelan Sexton is a defending champion and fancies his chances of making it three-in-a-row for his new club. Sexton was an emphatic winner of the recent Munster Chps , winning both his semi-final and final bouts by knockout . He is a prodigious exponent of the lethal left-hook and must be fancied to achieve his goal.
Tara Dowling is the lone girl representative from Ennis and she competes in the 60 Kilo class , while Paddy Donovan who boxes out of the OLOL Club in Limerick , but does most of his training and sparring in the Ennis club will represent his club in the 36 Kilo division. A prodigious handball player and all-rounder , he is a pupil of the CBS school in Ennis.
Meanwhile, Ennis Lightweight Lee Sherlock made tremendous strides in the Senior Cadets (15-17 year olds) Championships in the National Stadium in Dublin during the past week. The championships are run each year at the end of the season to select boxers for the Elite International squad for the Home Internationals in the Autumn and are a prized commodity for all Champions.
Sherlock beat Bernard McDonagh from the St Anns Club in Westport in Friday’s preliminaries on a 4-3 scoreline before disposing of Martin Collins from Kilkenny in the quarter-final on Saturday and he saw off the challenge of Donegal’s Andrew Gallagher (Finn Valley BC) in Sunday’s semi-final , guaranteeing himself silver and a possible gold when he faces up to Ulster Champ Caoimhin Hynes in the final on Wednesday April 27.