Confident Ward puts it up to Egan

Kenny Egan is going to have to produce an almighty effort if he is to wrest the light heavyweight title from Joe Ward in the finals of the Elite senior boxing championships at the National Stadium tonight.

That’s the opinion of Ward himself, ewho stunned the boxing world by outclassing and outpointing the Olympic silver medallist last year when Egan was chasing a record 11th successive national senior title.

While Egan was insisting he is a different man than he was last year when he was shrugging off the personal problems that beset him after the Beijing Olympics, Ward insisted he and not Egan is the one who has made the most improvement since then and that Egan had not shown him anything different during the current campaign.

“Let’s face it, he’s 29 now and you don’t teach an old dog new tricks,” he said. “I’m the one who is doing the learning here and I have learned a lot since last year. I’m more mature now. I’ve won a European senior title and I’ve been gaining more and more experience all the time.”

He admitted losing a fight he should have won and failing to qualify for the Olympic Games at the World Championships in Baku last year was a huge shock to the system but added that, while it was disappointing, it may have proved a blessing in disguise.

“It sent me back to the drawing board,” he said. “You can learn from your mistakes. When you are winning you don’t think about any mistakes that you might be making. When you lose you want to know the reason, what mistakes you have made and how to rectify them.”

To help him address his mistakes he turned to Eddie Bolger, the 1989 Irish featherweight champion, who not only brought him to his home in Wexford but to Scotland where he was able to get some excellent spars.

Ward is eagerly awaiting tonight’s showdown. “All the hard work has been done,” he said. “Eddie (Bolger) knows his stuff. He has been watching Kenny in the High Performance and he’s been away with him as well. We have our tactics worked out. I’ve trained harder for this fight than for any fight in my life. If I lose this it will be because Kenny is a better man.”

Win or lose, Egan will have set another record by becoming the first man to appear in 12 consecutive finals — former European heavyweight champion, Gearóid O Colmain held the old record at 11.

“I’ve achieved a lot in my career and records don’t bother me right now — maybe down the road — but now it’s all about going out and performing,” he said. “I’m boxing well again and I’m happy and that’s all that matters.

“When I was fighting last November in the Olympic Test tournament in London I found that I had the hunger back again. I was four down going into the second round and I asked myself ‘do I really want this or don’t I’ so I got up off the stool and I brought it back and when I went back to the corner after that round I knew the hunger was still there.

“I could have been out in a shed somewhere in a field — I just had to ask myself that question — am I hungry enough right now to get up off this stool and try and pull that back. I could’ve just pussyfooted around for the next two rounds and then be happy with the silver (medal). But I wasn’t and I just got in there and gave as good as I got in the second round and got the gold.

“But look — that’s all history now. I came into those championships prepared to take it one fight at a time and that’s what I’ve done. I haven’t studied last year’s final or anything like that because I am a different person now. I didn’t box in those championships like I did in the final last year.

“I’m in good shape and if he wins and beats me I’ll shake his hand and wish him the best in the (Olympic) qualifiers and I hope he’ll do the same if it happens the other way round.”

The welterweight final between defending champion Adam Nolan (Bray/Garda) and John Joe Joyce also promises to be a thriller. Joyce, champion in 2010 and an Olympian in 2008, admitted he was out of sorts when he made an early exit from the championships last year.

“I had a problem with the weight, my niece got cancer and then I got sick the week of the championships,” he said. “Thank God my niece is well again, I’m feeling good and I’m feeling strong so I’m in it to win it this year.”

Joyce’s cousin, David Oliver, will have a score to settle with lightweight champion, Michael McDonagh (St Mary’s, Dublin), who made life difficult for him last year before Joyce was disqualified in the third round for a low blow.