Super Sutherland takes centre stage

WITH no light heavyweights in action, five holders will take the defence of their titles to the penultimate stage when the semi-finals of the national senior boxing championships get underway at the National Stadium tonight.

The defending champions will be in action at featherweight, where Eric Donovan (St Michael’s, Athy) meets Willie Casey (OLOL), lightweight where John Joe Joyce (St Michael’s, Athy) meets Karl Crawley (Glasnevin), welterweight where Roy Sheahan (St Michael’s) meets Fergal Redmond (Arklow), middleweight where Darren Sutherland (St Saviours) meets last year’s runner-up, Edward Healy (Portlaoise) and super heavy where Anthony Crampton (St Broughan’s) meets Martin Sweeney (Drimnagh).

All eyes will be on Darren Sutherland, who won the middleweight title for the first time last year and he is unlikely to be offered a serious challenge either by Eddie Healy or the winner of tomorrow night’s semi-final between experienced Eamon O’Kane from Immaculata in Belfast and Sean Shevlin from Dundalk.

And the other contest everyone will be watching out for is the inevitable clash between clubmates Eric Donovan and David Oliver Joyce. Joyce, who dominated the bantamweight division now moves up to featherweight and he has a semi-final clash with Ross Hickey (Grangecon) tomorrow night.

There was a similar situation involving St Michael’s clubmates last year when Roy Sheahan beat David Joyce for the welterweight title, and there is every possibility that they will renew rivalry on Friday week as Joyce will be fancied to dispose of TJ Hamill (All Saints) tomorrow night, although Hamill is an experienced campaigner who, like David Oliver Joyce, has moved up a division after beating David Nevin (Cavan) for the light welterweight title last year.

Light heavyweight champion, Kenneth Egan, bronze medallist at last year’s European championships, will not be in action until the finals next week when the world and European women’s lightweight champion, Katie Taylor, will be involved in an exhibition contest against Eva Walstrom from Finland, the woman she beat for the European title in 2005.