The Irish boxing Championships. A drama every fifteen minutes, a Shakespearean tragedy every hour and a shifting crowd that over six hours ebbed and flowed in a National Stadium that always magically remained just full.
On Saturday night over 25 finals, it also housed the spectacle of careers stalling, some ending and others coming to life.
Keeping to a high tempo emotional churn, most boxers saw beyond their own glory and that of their clubs and coaches as the beginning of Olympic qualification for Paris 2024 came with winning a national title.
It was towards the end of the night when the most consequential and unscripted bout unfolded with the world and European Champion Amy Broadhurst falling 3-2 to Offaly’s Grainne Walsh in the 66kg division.
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Prior to the championships Walsh had been seriously curtailed with injury, while in 2022 Broadhurst remained unbeaten at World, European and Commonwealth level. Few saw it coming and in the scheme of jostling for Irish team positions, it was a bigger win for Walsh than it was a loss for Broadhurst.
It also again sparked questions about how Broadhurst can adjust to the heavier weight. She has had to move to 66kg rather than an easier 60kg to avoid conflict with Kellie Harrington, who, shaking off the curse of being bout 13 on the schedule, earned a unanimous decision over Tramore’s Zara Breslin.
For Walsh, a talented footballer who played with Shamrock Rovers and gave it up for boxing, when she was inspired by Katie Taylor’s win at the 2012 London Olympic Games, it is career changing.
“I’ve been on a roller coaster of a journey the last three years,” said Walsh afterwards. “I’ve had three fights in three years, so I had a lot of ground to make up considering Amy’s form last year. I just knew I was superior at this weight. It’s a big jump moving up three kilos.
“I had four operations on my right thumb and I broke it before the Europeans in September but I didn’t need surgery. I’d an amazing surgeon up in Belfast and he told me you are one punch away from retirement. So, to be at that fear factor at 27-years-of -age you have to change up certain things, stop throwing certain shots at people.
“Then, and this is completely under the radar, four weeks ago I had surgery on my baby toe because I dropped a dumbbell on it. I didn’t want to say anything out here. I just knew getting into the ring this was my time.”
It was a tight contest between the two, both at times forcing the other to concede and both willing to trade, Broadhurst’s backhand left finding its way through the Walsh defence and the 27-year-old replying with hooks and also scoring.
Pushing hard in the final round, heart and her world dominance in the lighter divisions was not enough for Broadhurst as a fearless Walsh hit back and probably caught the judge’s eyes in the closing minutes.
But they too were split, with three decisively believing the Offaly boxer had done enough.
The decision will force Broadhurst to reflect on her first serious outings against Kaci Rock in the semi-final and now Walsh at 66kg and even for a world and European champion, that to successfully move up in weight, she must bring her entire game along with her.
[ Breakout season draws Amy Broadhurst into inner circle of elite Irish boxingOpens in new window ]
“At the end of this year I want to be qualified for Paris,” added Walsh throwing down the challenge. “I want to book my ticket on that plane. To finish out the year with that and get back into position where ... I don’t want to go into too much detail, but I want to get back into a place where I am respected. People now know I am a serious contender. I just beat the number one in Europe, number one in the world. That’s it.”
Drama. Well, that 50kg Daina Moorehouse and not the boxer who took down the world champion, won boxer of the tournament, colours between the lines of the night.
For Moorhouse it was the culmination of years of being spoken about as a future champion as well as winning at underage level coming to fruition. She is currently on a Paris Olympic Scholarship from the Olympic Federation of Ireland.
Prior to the final Moorehouse, from Bray defeated 2022 European bronze medallist at 48kg Shannon Sweeney before unanimously taking down 2022 European silver medallist Belfast’s Caitlin Fryers.
Quite a statement from the 21-year-old as 50kg is an Olympic category. But not before some added theatre. Moorehouse slipped in the second round in the all action bout and twisted her ankle. Limping to a neutral corner, the referee called a time out while the 21-year-old was examined.
Continuing the contest, Moorehouse slipped again in the third round but it didn’t drop her unmatched high energy combinations, all five judges seeing it fall her way.
“It’s okay. I was a bit sore. But it will be all right,” said Moorehouse. “I was (worried). I was. Thank God I got through it, thank God. It was one of the biggest fights of my career. I just had to be careful not to fall again.
“The game plan was just not to mix it, keep it long. Caitlin is a strong girl and she’s great on the inside. The main thing now will be the Olympic qualifiers and hopefully the World Championships. The worlds come first. I’d like to go to both.”
There were wins too for European Champion Aoife O’Rourke at 75kg. With world champion sister Lisa in her corner, she earned a unanimous win over Aoibhe Carabine from Geesala, while Commonwealth Games champion Michaela Walsh defeated Kelsey Leonard and European silver medallist Christina Desmond pulled out a unanimous win for the Garda over Tiffany O’Reilly of the Defence Forces.
In the men’s competition Dean Walsh, nephew of former Irish team coach and current USA team coach Billy, won boxer of the tournament for his 4-1 win over Jon McConnell of Holy Trinity at 71kg.
One of the comebacks of the night Walsh had drifted away from boxing with personal issues after four senior titles and a European medal at 22-years-old. Now at 27 he’s back with the Olympic Games on his mind.
So too Dylan Eagleson, the talented Southpaw from Bangor. Although not at his best due to illness in the lead into the championships, the 2022 European silver medallist did enough to convince the judges he was a worthy 4-1 winner at 54kg over Corinthians Jorge Rogala Castanno.
“It was a tough fight to be honest with you,” said Eagleson. “I was sick before. It wasn’t my best performance, know what I mean. Bit of ring rust and everything.
“Yeah, good start to the year. I’ve a big year ahead of me. My name is still there at 57kg. I’ll go in (to High performance) show the coaches what I’m made of.”
The Paris weight divisions are 51kg and 57kg, so a decision further down the line for the young boxer is in the pipeline with Olympic Games qualifiers this year beginning with the March World Championships in India and the European Games this summer in Poland.
Results, in bout order:
Men’s
48kg: Rickey Nesbitt (Holy Family L) beat Paudraig Downey (St John Bosco A), 3-2
92+: Gytis Lisinskas (Celtic) beat William J McCartan (Gilford), RSCI
75kg: Christopher O’Reilly (Holy Family L) beat Joshua Olaniyan (Jobstown), 3-2
57kg: Paul Loonam (St Carthages) beat Sean Purcell (Saviours Crystal), 5-0
60kg: Davey Joyce (Holy Family L) beat Jason Nevin (Olympic L) 4-1
54kg: Dylan Eagleson (St Pauls A) beat Jorge Rogla Castanno (Corinthians), 4-1
67kg: Eugene McKeever (Holy Family L) V Ryan McCarthy (Fr Horgans), 3-2
71kg: Dean Walsh (St Ibars/Josephs) beat Jon McConnell (Holy Trinity), 4-1
63.5kg: Dean Clancy (Sean McDermott), W/O
51kg: Sean Mari (Monkstown D/Defence F) beat Clepson dos Santos (Holy Trinity), RSC
80kg: Keelyn Cassidy (Saviours Crystal) beat Jason Clancy (Sean McDermott), 5-0
92kg: Jack Marley (Monkstown D) beat Patrick Ward (Olympic C), 5-0
86kg: Dmytro Oliynyk (Smithfield) beat Kane Tucker (Emerald, Belfast) W/O
Women’s
81kg: Bethany Doocey (Castlebar) beat Dearbhla Tinnelly (Clann Naofa), 5-1
52kg: Nicole Clyde (Antrim) beat Chloe Gabriel (Mulhuddart), 3-2
63kg: Shauna Browne O’Keefe (Clonmel) beat Winnie Christina McDonagh (Neilstown), 5-0
81+kg: Judy Bobbett (Liberty) beat Shauna Kearney (Bunclody), 5-0
54kg: Niamh Fay (Ballybougall) beat Jennifer Lehane (DCU), 5-0
48kg: Nicole Buckley (St Carthages) beat Ciara Walsh (Smithfield), 4-1
60kg: Kellie Harrington (St Mary’s D) beat Zara Breslin (Tramore), 5-0
50kg: Daina Moorehouse (Enniskerry) beat Caitlin Fryers (Immaculata A), 5-0
75kg: Aoife O’Rourke (Olympic C) beat Aoibhe Carabine (Geesala), 5-0
57kg: Michaela Walsh (Emerald A) beat Kelsey Leonard (Unit 3) 5-0
66kg: Grainne Walsh (Spartacus) beat Amy Broadhurst (St Bronaghs), 3-2
70kg: Christina Desmond (Dungarvan/Garda) beat Tiffany O’Reilly (Portlaoise/Defence F), 5-0
