Grace Conway of Tredagh Boxing Academy has been selected to captain the 14 strong Irish team to box against Wales at the Guildhall in Derry this Saturday when she will fight Welsh 57kg champion Ellie Cain.
Between studying for her Leaving Certificate at Scoil Ui Mhuire in Dunleer and a hectic schedule of boxing tournaments and training, the last three months has been an exceptionally busy time for Grace.
The Dunleer girl has shown great determination and strength of character however and this has stood to her throughout her career at European (Double silver medallist) and World level and she is expected to do her club ad country proud when she leads the Irish team into combat in Derry with boxing starting at 7 pm.
She has been in high performance training with the national squad since selection and training each weekend in Tredagh along with her strength and conditioning training in Integral in Drogheda. Grace has also had some high end sparring trips to face Elite Champions such as Holland International Josefien Betist, Ulster Elite Champion Courtney Mc Crudden and Elite Champion Shauna O Callaghan.
At the end of January she entered the U 18 All Ireland Boxing Championships, stepping up a weight class, to face a formidable champion from Dunboyne Boxing Club in the final.
Her opponent Tegan Farrelly was a multiple All Ireland Champion and Irish International Boxer. The stage was set at the National Stadium for a thrilling National final and it didn’t disappoint.
It was a hotly contested bout with Farrelly coming forward for large spells in her bid to become the champion. But it was Grace’s superior counter punching skills, distance, timing and menacing backhand crosses and uppercuts which caught the eye.
She also put the pressure on Tegan at the right times after making perfectly timed angles to push her opponent back. The final decision was a unanimous verdict on all five of the judges’ cards to crown Grace All Ireland U 18 Champion and lift her 8th National Title in row.
