Fit-again Sheahan ready to grasp his chance against New York’s finest

By Brendan Mooney

Thursday, November 19, 2009

ROY SHEAHAN (St Michael’s, Athy) will have the ideal opportunity to get his international career back on track when he guests for the Garda/Rylane selection against the New York Police Department in a sell-out dinner show at the Rochestown Park Hotel, Cork on Saturday night.

The NYPD have a number of Golden Gloves champions in their eight-strong team that includes one woman boxer for the return match — the Garda/Rylane team were guests at a gala dinner show in New York on the eve of St Patrick’s Day.

Sheahan, is paired with Jamal Spence at the new weight of 71kgs. Like a number of other members of the Irish team, the Athy man went to the world championships in Chicago two years ago as one of the favourites to gain Olympic selection, but in the end, light flyweight Paddy Barnes upset the odds to qualify for Beijing.

Then national champion, Sheahan has found himself in the shadow of Donegal welterweight, Willie McLaughlin, ever since.

Sheahan has suffered regular injury since. He returned to full fitness to win the open tournament to help with selection for the world championships, which were held in September. McLaughlin who had been nursing a damaged rib since the EU championships, recovered just in time to take his place in the team and Sheahan, an all-rounder who won five Leinster underage GAA medals with Kildare and also played Kennedy Cup soccer, was again left out in the cold.

He will have an opportunity to reclaim the national senior title when the championships get underway in the New Year. From that point of view, Saturday night’s event is important.

Garda will parade some of their finest at Rochestown where Dublin Garda Adam Nolan will take on Quintin Fortune from the NYPD; Wexford Garda, Niall Kennedy, a former national intermediate heavyweight champion, will box Alexis Ayala and Dublin Garda Laois Traynor will box Tinika Harbour in the only female contest on the bill.

Elsewhere Donal Óg O’Leary, brother of Cork inter-county footballer, Noel O’Leary, will meet Juan Rodriguez in a light heavyweight contest and Jimmy Sweeney (Garda/Drimnagh) will meet Louis Reyes.

Seanie Barrett, Rylane’s former two-time national senior champion and multi-nations gold medallist will return by popular demand for what will be an exhibition contest against Joe Allen from the US while another Rylane star, Tom Murray, who won against the NYPD in Cork four years ago, will return to box Hector Lopez in a light heavyweight contest.

In an all-Irish middleweight pairing, John Murray (Rylane) will box David Joyce (St Michael’s, Athy).

The tournament will mark the Rylane club’s 30th anniversary.

Seanie Barrett who won two Irish senior titles and boxed in the Olympic qualifiers is probably their best-known champion. Heavyweight Seanie Regan boxed the Olympic and world heavyweight champion, Felix Savon, in the world cup while Ted Clifford from Castleisland, won a silver medal at the Acropolis Cup in Athens.

The club coach, Dan Lane, has been coach to 26 Irish international teams and was in Michael Roche’s corner when the Sunnyside southpaw qualified for the Sydney Olympics.

Tickets were sold out in five days but those who were disappointed will have an opportunity to meet the NYPD boxers at Curraheen Greyhound Stadium tomorrow night when the fourth race will be named in their honour.

This appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Thursday, November 19, 2009