Focused Egan hunting 11th national title at the Stadium

KENNY EGAN begins his quest for an unprecedented 11th consecutive national senior title when the semi-finals of the Elite championships get underway at the National Stadium tonight.

The Olympic silver medallist appears to have a comparatively easy task against Sligo man, Thomas Roohan (Ballinacarrow), in the first of the light heavyweight semi-finals but he remains focused.

“When you’re defending your title you can’t afford to take anything for granted,” he said. “I’m just two fights away from winning my 11th title. That was my target all along.”

It will be Egan’s first appearance at headquarters since he won his 10th title last year. Since then he has been to Moscow for the European Championships where he was one of five Irish boxers to make the semi-finals and medal — Paddy Barnes went on to win gold and Darren O’Neill silver.

After that, the Neilstown southpaw was snapped up by Miami for the inaugural World Series Boxing and he won his first bout but missed his second because of a cut sustained in that fight. He then got a walkover and his next fight is scheduled for St Patrick’s Day.

“Miami hasn’t gone according to plan as regards maybe being able to get the Olympic qualifying spot. With the injury, I just won’t get enough fights in to have a chance — but that’s the way the cookie crumbles and I just have to get on with things,” he said. “I’m really looking forward to the Championships — I always do, and there really is something special about them,” he said.

“The year has passed fast and I’m not getting any younger, so I know there’s going to be nothing easy about them.

“I certainly don’t take the fact that I’m getting older as a negative, not in any way. I’m in great shape, and I’ve trained harder for this year’s Championships than I did for last year’s.

“I’ve heard a few people are mouthing off about what they’re going to do to me, but let them if they want to. I don’t take it as anything personal.”

He will probably look beyond tonight’s semi-final for his biggest threat. Joe Ward from Moate has won two world titles at youth and junior level and, although just 17, he has blossomed into a fine light heavyweight. Ward still has some business to settle with the winner of tonight’s rescheduled quarter-final between Sean Allen and Davy Joe Joyce who is another world medallist at underage level.

Bantamweight champion, John Joe Nevin has been left out of the Paris team for tonight’s WSB match. That dashes his hopes of getting a shot at the individual championship where Olympic qualification is a possibility alongside a pretty hefty purse.

It also means that the 2009 world bronze medallist will be available to box Derek Thorpe (St Aidan’s) tonight in a repeat of last year’s final, which the Mullingar man won 7-5.

The winner of this year’s title will make a bit of history as the new 56kg limit is an amalgamation of the old bantamweight (54kg) and featherweight (57kg) limits to form what is technically a new division.

It also brings in the defending featherweight champion, Toryne McCullagh, who meets former champion, Shane Cox, tomorrow night.