Jack McLaughlin, Stephen Friel enter Hall of Fame as Donegal boxing toasts season

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Jack McLaughlin and Stephen Friel were officially installed into the Donegal Boxing Hall of Fame on Saturday night.

At the 2024 awards ceremony hosted by the County Donegal Boxing Board, Illies Golden Gloves’ Friel and Letterkenny boxing icon McLaughlin were inducted.

It was a special night as the sweet scientists of the county gathered to celebrate a successful season that saw nine boxers win 11 Irish titles between them.

They included Danny Duffy, the Raphoe Boxing Club ace who won an Irish Elite bantamweight title. Duffy also won the Irish senior title at his weight, those successes coming just a few short months after the tragic death of his mother and two other family members in a road traffic collision outside Strabane.

Duffy bridged a 30-year gap to Danny Ryan, the previous Raphoe BC boxer to win an Irish Elite title.

Illies Golden Gloves, one of the youngest but most successful clubs in Donegal, was named as Club of the Year. When Roisin Hegarty won a Girl 2 title, it was the 50th Irish title won by the Illies Golden Gloves in only 25 years.  Hegarty went on to compete at the European Schoolgirls Championships in Bosnia & Herzegovina and was just one win from a medal, losing out to Varvara Parshikova from Russia in a quarter-final.

Jack McLaughlin and Stephen Friel took the night’s final awards as they joined the illustrious Hall of Fame.

From a legendary boxing family in the Cathedral Town, McLaughlin won six Irish titles, including at Schoolboy, Youth and Junior levels, and was beaten in an Ulster Elite final by the late, great Jim McCourt in a fight that was shown on the BBC in 1965.

In roughly 500 fights – in a period of around 14 years – he had only 20 losses and remains one of the most formidable boxers ever developed in Donegal.

Friel was no mean boxer either and won the boxing award at the 1982 Donegal Sports Star Awards.

Friel made his name as one of the top coaches in the country and is an AIBA accredited three-star coach who worked the corner at two Commonwealth Games – New Delhi in 2010 and Glasgow in 2014.

Two of the Irish boxing team from the 2024 Olympic Games were among the special guests with Dublin heavyweight Jack Marley -  former European U22 gold and European Games silver medallist - and Tyrone featherweight Jude Gallagher - holder of Commonwealth Games gold and World Youth bronze medals - in attendance.

World middleweight title challenger Jason Quigley from Ballybofey was among the crowd alongside the legendary Charlie Nash, a 1972 Olympian who won British and European titles  before losing out to Jim Watt with the world lightweight title on the line, and Paul McCloskey from Dungiven, who stopped Barry Morrison at the Aura Leisure Centre in Letterkenny in 2010 to win the EBU European super lightweight title.

Conal Thomas, a Donegal native and former St John Bosco boxer, travelled from Cork while Ulster Boxing Council President Kevin Duffy and registrar Eugene Duffy were also present.

2024 County Donegal Boxing Board Awards

Hall of Fame: Stephen Friel (Illies Golden Gloves); Jack McLaughlin (Letterkenny)
Appreciation Awards: Feargal McLaughlin (Buncrana), Gerard Keaveney (Raphoe)
Special Recognition: Dominic McCafferty (Convoy); Jim Knox (Derry County Board)
Jimmy Murphy Memorial Cup, Best Club: Illies Golden Gloves
Harry 'Kid' Duffy Memorial Cup, Best Elite Boxer: Danny Duffy (Raphoe)
John McLaughlin Cup, Best Senior Boxer: Cathal McLaughlin (Raphoe)
Johnny McDaid Cup, Best Female Boxer: Roisin Hegarty (Illies Golden Gloves)
Billy 'Spider' Kelly Cup, Best Youth Boxer: Caoimhin Connolly (Twin Towns)
Dr Denis McLaughlin Cup, Best Junior Boxer: Shaun Doohan (Dunfanaghy)
Michael Bonner Cup, Best Juvenile Boxer: Cassie Lynch (Illies Golden Gloves)
James White Memorial Shield, Most Improved Boxer: Kerry Browne (Convoy)
Conal Thomas Award, Coach of the Year: Gary McCullagh (Raphoe)
President's Cup, Referee/Judge of the Year: Thomas McCarron (Carrigart)

Irish Champions: Izabella Iwanek (Convoy ABC) – Girl 1 55kgs; Tegan McCarron (Carrigart ABC) - Girl 1 75kgs; Roisin Hegarty (Illies Golden Gloves) - Girl 2 57kgs and Junior Cadet 60kgs; Cassie Lynch (Illies Golden Gloves) - Girl 2 43kgs; Shaun Doohan (Dunfanaghy ABC) - Boy 4 70kgs; Dean Doherty (Carndonagh ABC) - National Colleges Champion; Matthew McCole (Illies Golden Gloves) - National Colleges champion; Cathal McLaughlin (Raphoe) – Senior 75kgs; Danny Duffy – (Raphoe) Senior and Elite 54kgs 

Club Awards: Twin Towns – Joey O'Hora; Illies Golden Gloves – Paul McCloskey; St John Bosco – Nadine Pearson; St Bridget's Clonmany – Conan Kearney; Raphoe – Taylor Parke; Dunfanaghy – Eddie McBride; Dunree – Jason McGilloway

Coaching Awards: Daniel Campbell, Daniel McGonagle, Stephen Glackin – St Bridget's Clonmany; Gary McBride – Dunfanaghy; Dympna Gallagher, Declan McCarron - Carrigart; Shaun Bonner, Cathal Kelly – Carndonagh;