Clare girls punch their way into history

LAST Saturday will be regarded as a day of special significance in the annals of Clare boxing. It was the day when ladies boxing superseded the hitherto male-dominated world of championship winners in the county.
Junior ladies Kayleigh McCormack from Kilfenora and Antoinette Keane from the Ennis club won the 57kg and 63kg titles at the National Boxing Championships in Dublin and created a niche for themselves and their sport, setting a marker for their male colleagues in their respective clubs.
Clubmates Lee Sherlock in the boy 4 category and Paddy O’Connor in the youth heavyweight (91kg) had to be content with silver in their finals, but Clare mentors Sean Carrig, Tommy Lyons and Patrick McCormack were delighted with the performances of all four boxers who had made their way to the finals after five days of intense action in the National Stadium.
Reverting to the action in the awesome confines of the National Stadium in Dublin it must be said that Saturday was truly a day of vindication for young Antoinette Keane who will turn 16 in June. She was beaten in last year’s provincial championships but was relentless in her pursuit of glory through the last 12 months.
Antoinette beat Sara Barrett from Geesala in the semi-finals last week on a 9-1 scoreline and on Saturday she stepped up a gear to comprehensively outpoint Ulster champion, Lorraine Boyce from Carrigart, 7-1. She had come through six rounds of championship boxing conceding only two scoring punches, a truly excellent feat and a sense of perspective in the tough sport of boxing.
Kilfenora Boxing Club, long associated with heavyweights and middleweights, has now produced a lady with all the attributes for the hard knocks of the fight game. Kayleigh McCormack, a daughter of international heavyweight John, disposed of Megan O’Donnell the Ulster champ on a 7-0 scoreline last week, imposing her vaunted right hand throughout a one-sided contest, and in Saturday’s final she dominated Rosemary Doherty from Carndonagh, winning on a 5-0 scoreline with her left jab dictating the pace and trend of the final.
In the 48kg boy 4 final Ennis boxer Lee Sherlock found the going rocky against Hughie Nevin from Cavan and realistically the Ennis southpaw was fighting an uphill battle with a stress fracture of his left wrist adding to his woes. He had injured his hand in sparring the previous week and relied on a heavy strapping to offset the pain, but the fiery Cavan fighter scarcely gave him solace and punched immaculately for a solid 11-1 victory.
The finals of the Boy 1, 2 and 3 (12, 13, and 14-year-olds) will be held in the National Stadium during Easter Week and five boxers from Clare remain in contention for titles. Paul Flynn (33kg) and Keelan Sexton (63kg) will represent West Clare BC, Caoilinn McCormack (Kayleigh’s cousin) boxes in the Kilfenora colours and Mike McDonagh (44kg) and Lee Brady (63kg) carry the Ennis pennant into the ring in their quest of glory.