FIVE of last year's title winners will be defending their crowns when the National Senior Championships take place at the National Stadium tonight. They are Jim Pior at light fly, Damien McKenna at bantam, Declan Barrett at lightweight, Brian Magee at middleweight and Stephen Kirk at light heavy. Damaen Kelly, last year's flyweight champion, has moved to bantamweight and his challenge for McKenna's title here could be the bout of the night.

The fact that seven new champions will be crowned adds an extra competitive edge to the evening and each bout will have its own attractions for the various clubs involved, with all four provinces having an interest in the outcome.

The reigning light flyweight champion, Jim Prior from Darndale, is expected to retain his title although James Rooney from the Star club can be depended upon to put up a strong challenge. The experienced Donal Hosford is fancied to take the vacant flyweight title but the McKenna-Kelly bout at bantam should be a very close-run thing.

In the course of his preparations for tonight, Kelly and his Holy Trinity clubmate Brian Magee, who is defending his middleweight title, have been sparring with the actor Daniel Day Lewis who is preparing for his next film called The Boxer.

The young Dubliner Aodh Carlyle has, attracted a lot of attention this season and may be too strong for Pat O'Donnell from Belfast, while Declan Barrett from Cork is expected to retain his title against Eugene McEneaney from Dundalk.

There is another Cork-Belfast clash at light welter where Patrick Walsh from the St Colman's club meets Glenn McClarnon from Holy Family while at welterweight, Neil Gough is taken to beat Bill Cowan from Monkstown in Belfast and thus retain his title.

The light middleweight title must go to Cork with Michael Roche from Sunnyside facing Tom Fitzgeiald from Ballyvolane and there is an interesting clash at middleweight where the holder Brian Magee from Holy Trinity in Belfast meets Ciprian Petrea Surugiu, a native of Romania, who is fighting out of the Drimnagh club.

Stephen Kirk from Cairn Lodge faces a stiff challenge from Adrian Sheerin from Swinford and there will be new champions at heavy and super heavy where Limerick could score a double through John Kiely and Brendan Kirrane who take on James Clancy from Phoenix in Dublin and Stephen Reynolds from St Joseph's in Sligo respectively.