Clare boxers impress in Tralee

IRISH champions Lee Sherlock, Brian McDonagh and Keelan Sexton had a break from hostilities last weekend as they piled on the training sessions in preparation for their home tournament in the next fortnight.
Meanwhile, colleagues Conor Doyle, Jamie Keane, Wayne Danaher, Mike McDonagh, John McCormack and Sally Carrig, all travelled to Tralee for tournament action last Saturday.
The Tralee show, which was held in the Abbeygate Hotel, scene of some great battles for Clare boxers in the past, had a capacity crowd on hand to cheer the boxers in some exciting bouts.
It was a good evening for all six Ennis boxers with five victories amidst some stirring performances and a near flawless showing from middleweight Wayne Danaher, who seems to improve with every outing. Danaher, with his characteristic upright stance, showed glimpses of his potential power against Conor Fallon from Kilnamanagh whom he beat on the unanimous decision of the judges. He controlled the contest at long range and was always looking for an opening for his right hooks against the Dubliner.
Irish champion Conor Doyle carried a hand injury into his battle with Fallon’s clubmate Liam Gaynor in the 48 kilos boys’ contest and had to pull out all the stops in the final round for victory. Gaynor was elusive and a dangerous counter puncher and troubled the Irish champion with left jabs and hooks but with precious little between them going into the final round, Doyle found his mark with good right-hands and the occasional left hook for a fine victory.
Southpaw Mike McDonagh, an Irish finalist last year, kept his winning comeback streak intact with victory over Munster champion Neil O’Sullivan from Ballyduff BC while sparmate Jamie Keane overcame height and reach adversity against David Delaney from Abbeyleix for a hugely popular victory. Keane and McDonagh are hotly fancied for titles when the provincial and national championships come round in April.
Middleweight John Mike McCormack in his first year of competitive action with the Ennis club, comes from a long line of punchers and his dad, Mike, was one of the fighting McCormacks from Kilfenora in the ’80s. He duly delivered on Saturday with a third-round stoppage against local boxer Vincent Jordan. While the bout lacked the finesse of some of the previous fights, it was nonetheless one that teetered on the brink, until the Ennis fighter nailed the Tralee competitor with two perfect righthands to the chin in the first minute of the final round for a knockout.
Irish Champion Sally Carrig and local Niamh Ball (Trojan) fought out a pulsating battle in the only ladies’ bout of the evening and they kept the local crowd enthralled with a mixture of solid left-hand expertise and admirable evasive ringcraft over three entertaining rounds. Niamh Ball it was who deservedly took the judges’ decision, reversing the great victory which the Ennis girl enjoyed when they last met in the Ennis BC anniversary show last month.