Sutherland vows to prove a point

DARREN SUTHERLAND has gone back to his roots in defence of his national senior middleweight title and he cannot believe that some people have written him off in advance of the anticipated showdown between himself and Darren O’Neill in the finals of the national senior championships at the National Stadium tomorrow night.

Both boxers have yet to get their respective campaigns under way with Sutherland set to meet Dundalk man, Sean Shevlin (Dealgan) in tonight’s semi-finals and O’Neill facing an opener against Edward Healy (Portlaoise) who defeated Eamon O’Kane (Immaculata) by a single point in a thrilling quarter final last night.

To say Sutherland was disappointed with his performance at the world championships in Chicago would be an understatement and he admitted yesterday he should have qualified for the Olympic Games there.