St. Joseph's ABC start milestone celebrations off with a bang!
St. Joseph’s ABC began their 30th anniversary celebrations with their first show in three years at a packed Gransha Club on Friday night.
The Shantallow club have reached the huge milestone in 2023 and to help start it off in the proper fashion, it hosted a brilliant show at the weekend, with club members all chipping in. Be it in the form of exhibitions, debuts or the experienced boxers showing off their talent, there was plenty there to keep the large crowd entertained.
The night started off with three cracking junior contests which gave some up and coming young boxers the chance to experience a live show experience with the atmosphere helping St. Joseph’s youngsters Daithi Mahon, Mark Whoriskey and Cahir Duffy put on impressive displays against opponents from Coleraine and Clonmany.
The first contest of the night saw Ollie Healy defeat Clomany’s Ronan Doherty on points. That was followed by Shea Carlin taking on Joshua Young from Churchlands in Coleraine with the St. Joseph’s youngster winning quickly by stopping his opponent in the first round. Carlin’s performance earned him the ‘Best Boxer of the Night’ award come the end of the show.
Darragh Coyle then fought Jack Doherty from Star of the Sea and won in the third round with the referee stopping the contest.
Tony Cox was next up for the home side and he boxed Killian O’Hara from All Saints, Ballymena, stopping his opponent in the first round. The two boxers just went at it, exchanging punches, but Cox was superior, and after his opponent received a standing 8-count, the talented youngster closed in to finish the job ruthlessly, adding to his ever-growing reputation.
The next contest was an U18 bout 71 kgs bout between Michael Doherty and Shea Fox from Omagh. It was Fox who won this one in the second round.
Cayden Boyle then represented his club against Tiarnan Staunton from All Saints, and took the victory on points.
The wins just kept coming for St. Joseph’s and Michael Jones defeated David Campbell from Coleraine.
Senior contests
The first senior contest of the evening took place between Cian Kyle and Joey O’Hara from Twin Towns from Donegal. In this 75kgs contest, it was Kyle who had his hand raised at the conclusion.
Then, at 67 kgs, Sean Mullan boxed Stephen Sloane from All Saints, and at the end of a fascinating contest, it was the All-Saints man who took the win on a split decision.
Light heavyweight Jack Barr then stepped into the ring to face John Knightly from Twin Towns, and impressed on the way to victory. Jack had a huge support cheering him on in what was his debut and he did not disappoint with a brilliant victory.
There was then a light welterweight contest at 63 kgs between Joe Cunningham and Rhys Mitchell from Scorpion, Ballymoney. The Derry boxer came out on top in this one.
Fionn Duffy then stepped up a 60kgs Lightweight, and beat Antrim champion Ciaran O’Neill from Scorpion, Ballymoney.
That preceded the last fight of the night at 57 kgs between Tiarnan Glennon at Matty Boreland from Churchlands. The St. Joseph’s man ended the night on a winning note for the home side, with an impressive display of skill and power.
There were also some prestigious awards handed out on the night. The Pat ‘Soup Campbell Memorial Shield for the best boxer of the year went to Tiarnan Glennon. The Michael McDaid Perpetual Cup for the best schoolboy went to Joe Cunningham. The Paddy Duddy Memorial Cup for the Clubman of the Year went to Jack Barr. The Paddy Kerr Memorial Cup for Best Youth Boxer of the Year went to Fionn Duffy.
“It was a massive night,” St. Joseph’s Coach Cahir Duffy said afterwards. “It was our first show since Covid so it’s been three years, so to have it this year, on the club’s 30th anniversary, was fantastic. It was a brilliant night overall. A couple of our older boys were there making their debuts and it was a good mix of young boys to start off the show and the more experienced boxers later on. It is hard to single anyone out because they were all cracking contests.
“There was massive interest in it and there was great support. I would say there were close to 300 people there; the Gransha club was packed to the rafters and the atmosphere was brilliant.”