Ward rules on night of shocks

Four Elite national boxing titles before his 21st birthday, where will it all end for Joe Ward?

“At the top”, he says, with every reason to feel confident after last night’s win at the National Stadium. Olympic gold, Rio 2016? “Yes of course; get there first, try to win it, that’s the aim, then see where I’ll go after that.”

It was a fantastic night for Irish boxing. From the moment reigning light-flyweight champion Hughie Myers and Paddy Barnes began throwing leather at last night’s Elite finals the action never let up, the National Stadium rocking, rolling and appreciating every punch, every fight.

Ward’s win over Matthew Tinker was of course expected, but there were a few surprises.

The two early fights went according to script, London Olympians Paddy Joyce and Michael Conlan (both bronze medallists), crowned champions at light-flyweight and bantamweight respectively.

The Hughes/Barnes fight was a real cracker, mile-a-minute action that took the winner to dark places fitness-wise.

“He was very fit, good to see, he pushed me right to the last. It was a tough fight, I’m just so glad to have come out the right side of it. Every round was close, I got in some killer shots and scored maybe a bit more.”

That’s seven titles now for Paddy, might well have been eight but for the illness that kept him out of the ring last year. Perhaps now he has Kenny Egan’s record of ten in his sights? “I’ll keep going, see what happens but Kenny won ten-in-a-row so I can’t match that.”

Then came Conlan, and another great battle. Michael was stepping up a weight this year, faced a familiar opponent in fellow Belfastman Tyrone McCullough, and a hell of a fight it was, Michael eventually gaining a unanimous but close decision.

“I knew it was going to be a cagey fight, I was prepared for anything — thank God I came out the winner. Tyrone is a very, very good boxer, a European bronze medallist. I just had to go out there and execute a gameplan which I didn’t have until I got in the ring — once I got in there it just fell into place. We’ve sparred a number of times, fought each other in charity matches and a lot of the time he’s buttoned me up. Often I lose the cool with him because he’s so awkward and that was the main thing tonight, not to lose the head.”

Those two fights decided, now came the surprises. In the welterweight final, former champ David Oliver Joyce’s power and strength proved too much for reigning lightweight champion Sean McComb, but that was just the start.

Last year Adam Nolan didn’t just win three-in-a-row at welterweight, he was also crowned Boxer of the Tournament. Last night however he caught a tartar in Ballymena’s Stephen Donnelly and after a truly epic battle, came out the wrong side of a split decision.

“Everyone had me as underdog going into this championship,” said a delighted Stephen. “Hard work for the past four months has done it for me, I knew this was my time, I knew I belong at this level and I’ve proved it here tonight, beating Adam Nolan who himself is a great boxer — he made me work for every second in there. I’m just over the moon, can’t believe it. After the last Commonwealth Games I took a year and a half break, went the wrong way in life, but I got myself together, I’ve come back.”

The surprises didn’t end there. Last year multiple middleweight champion Darren O’Neill lost to an outstanding youngster, Jason Quigley, who went on to win gold in Europe; last night Darren fell victim to the even younger Michael O’Reilly from Portlaoise. No fluke either, Michael well worth the win.

“He was the captain of the Olympic team, a privilege to box him but I went in and did what I had to do. The plan was to box him, test his speed and when I hit him a few good shots he got tired. He put the pressure on in the third but I knew I had it at this stage, just kept moving around. A good night for Portlaoise — I’d say half the town was here cheering me on.”

National Elite Boxing Championship finals:

Light-flyweight (49kg): Hughie Myers (Ryston) bt Paddy Barnes (Holy Family Golden Gloves) on pts (unanimous).

Bantamweight (56kg): Michael Conlan (St John Bosco) beat Tyrone McCullough (Holy Family Golden Gloves) on pts (unanimous).

Lightweight (60kg): David Oliver Joyce (St Michael’s Athy) bt Sean McComb (Holy Trinity) on pts (split decision).

Welterweight (69kg): Stephen Donnelly (All Saints) bt Adam Nolan (Bray) on pts (split decision).

Middleweight (75kg): Michael O’Reilly (Portlaoise) bt Darren O’Neill (Paulstown) on pts (split decision)

Light-heavyweight (81kg): Joe Ward (Moate) v Matthew Tinker (St Francis).

Flyweight (52kg): Chris Phelan (Ryston BC/Defence Forces) bt Adam Courtney (St Mary’s BC, Dublin) on pts (unanimous).

Light-welterweight (64kg): Dean Walsh (St Josephs/St Ibars) beat Michael Nevin (Portlaoise).