Over the last two action packed weekends, four boxers from Tredagh Boxing Academy qualified for the All Ireland Championships and returned with three gold medals and a silver.
Gracie ‘Paceie’ Conway was outstanding as she faced Ulster Champion Leah Lewis (Loughshore Boxing Club) in the quarter final of the Girl 4 Championships. Her exquisite footwork and hard hitting backhand forced the referee to stop the contest just before the bell in the first round.
In the semi-final Grace boxed Dublin Champion Brook Kinsella from the renowned Monkstown Boxing Club and once again her exquisite footwork, precise range, popping jab and hard hitting backhand forced the referee to stop the contest in another first round stoppage after giving her opponent 2 standing counts.
Between the counts there was times were Kinsella (daughter to Pauly Kinsella – Irish Elite Champion and European medallist) clawed her way back into the fight but Grace’s powerful punching was too much overall.
In the final Grace faced a formidable opponent (who stopped the Connaught Champion in 10 seconds in her semi-final) in Jordan Chelsea from Muskerry Cork (Double Muster Champion & All Ireland Champion).
In fairness to Jordan it was a “Ding Dong” final. Both girls came out with clear intentions of taking home the crown with hard hitting heavy exchanges. As the round drew to a close it was Grace’s trademark hard hitting backhand which had the Munster Champion on the retreat in what appeared to seal the round for the Tredagh & Leinster Champion.
In round two saw Jordan ‘dug in deep’ from the bell as she tried to push Grace back with her fast aggressive come forward combinations… However, Grace used her exquisite footwork to keep her range while pumping fast hard hitting combinations.
As the round progressed Grace piled the pressure on with technical powerful combinations to force the referee to give her opponent a standing 8 count in the final 10 seconds of the round.
The final round saw a supremely fit Conway set a remarkable high tempo as her sheer will to win brought her to new levels, combined with a sophisticated nuance of boxing skill to dominate the round.
The final verdict was a unanimous decision to Crown Gracie “Paceie” Conway Champion of Ireland. What’s amazing about this humble young lady is that this is her first year of Championship boxing.
In the the Semi – final of the Youth 1 All Ireland Championships, Callum ‘Cobra’ Carragher faced the experienced Dublin Champion Adam “Nailer” Ó Neill from Ballybough Boxing Club who came out with all guns blazing as he pressed forward from the bell.
Callum stayed calm throughout the three rounds and his hard hitting counter punching was enough to send him on his way to the All Ireland Final with a unanimous decision from the judges.
Callum contested his final the next day against current Irish Champion Danny Ó Reilly (St Paul’s Waterford). He produced a top class performance and out boxed, out smarted and out fought his opponent in all three rounds. His speed and timing was on point throughout the three rounds.
The large number of Tredagh fans and the neutral onlookers were stunned when the final result, a split decision, was called – three votes for Ó Reilly, two for Callum. A chilled and mystified silence descended on the crowd.
“This kid was brilliant on the highest stage in Irish Boxing and we salute you and your performance Callum” said coach Padraig Mc Cullough.
“He eats, drinks & sleeps boxing. This commitment and passion for our beautiful sport is paying dividends. Keep it up Champ!”
After the decision he shook hands with his opponent and corner men in his true respectful sportsmanship attitude and posed quietly and respectfully for photographs.
“Congratulations to “Cobra” on his Silver All Ireland medal. The club are so, so proud of Callum and his amazing development and season.”
Next up was Breanna “The Piranha” Johnston boxing in the Semi Final of the Girl Youth 1 Championships where she faced the Northern Ireland Champion and All Ireland Champion Lani Lafferty (Twin Towns Boxing Club) who had beaten Breanna in their last meeting.
The “Piranha” had different intentions on this occasion and her aggressive counter punching style and superior work rate throughout the three rounds determined her a comprehensive winner, winning by unanimous decision on this occasion.
In the final Breanna faced another formidable opponent in Angeline Duffy from Glin Boxing Club who was the Dublin Champion and former All Ireland finalist who had stopped her opponent in the first round of her Semi Final.
From the opening bell both girls went “toe to toe” in their bids to become All Ireland Champion. Duffy using her bigger stronger physique to impose her strength while “Piranha” used her counter punching skills to maximise her strengths.
It was a tight round but the next two rounds saw a different “Piranha” emerge with sharper counter punching skills and more accurate and harder hitting. Here was a girl who wanted to be Irish Champion.
In a points decision and it was the Piranha’s hand that was raised to be crowned the Girls Youth 1 Boxing Champion of Ireland.
“This girl really deserves this title with her high dedication to consistently training 6 / 7 days per week since she was 8 years old” he coach said. “She is also a humble young lady who helps out in the club with the Junior Group, fundraising, collections, clean ups in the club etc.”
Congratulations also to Dave ‘Brave’ Mc Donagh who was also crowned Boy 4 All Ireland Champion the week previous to lift his second All Ireland Title.
