Barefield bruisers to fight it out

JOHN and Regina O’Connell have been fighting almost every night lately. Thankfully, the Barefield husband and wife haven’t been brawling with each other. Instead, they have been religiously heading to Ennis Boxing Club in Chapel Lane, preparing for Friday’s Clare Conquest fight night in the Queen’s Hotel. John will fight Tony O’Dwyer in the night’s opening bout at 8.05pm, while his wife will take on Aisling O’Loughlin from Corofin later in the card, which will consist of 17 fights.
“It was years ago. I was about 12, I’d say,” John replied, when asked if he’d ever boxed before.
“I had no notion of going at the beginning but Regina and a couple of the lads went, so I decided I’d go as well. The craic has been mighty since. You meet some great friends,” he added.
When John the ‘Mean Machine’ takes to the ring, he’ll have to manage without ‘Raging’ Regina’s moral or vocal support. She’ll have enough to do, angrily focusing on her own bout.
“I’m not going to watch any fight until my fight is over,” ‘Raging’ Regina, who seems remarkably balanced given her fearsome moniker, confirmed.
“I’ll be nervous before I go in but once I’m in there, I’d say I’ll be fine. It’s just the build-up and the crowd. You would be a bit nervous but I’d say once you get the first punch, it’ll bring you back down to earth,” the welterweight contender maintains.
Her ‘Mean Machine’ husband feels himself and his opponent Tony ‘Fists of Fury’ O’Dwyer, will be evenly matched in their light middleweight contest.
“We’re fairly even. We’re starting the night. It’ll be a good fight. There’s a lot of pressure off because I don’t have to wait for the build-up. I’m in there. Get it done, change and get out. They even tell you not to be watching the fights because it saps your energy,” John revealed.
He will be keeping an eye on his wife though when she tackles ‘Woodstock Wonder’ O’Loughlin.
“I hope to be out in the crowd looking at that fight,” he laughed, admitting that he will be more nervous during that fight than for his own.
The couple have five children, ranging from 17 to two-year-old twins, so making time has been tricky, though not impossible.
“You just organise yourself and get out there and do it. It’s only for a certain number of weeks,” Regina explained, before throwing in a chilling warning for ‘Woodstock Wonder’ O’Loughlin. “I probably haven’t been this fit in about 20 years,” she revealed.
On a less blood-curdling note, Regina says the husband and wife pugilists have really enjoyed life in the ring so far.
“We can talk about it when we get home together. If he was coming home and talking about it, I wouldn’t know who he was talking about it and vice versa,” Regina said, fairly placidly before pulling on her gloves and bouncing into the Ennis Boxing Club ring.