IT WAS A case of friends-turned-foes at the National Stadium this evening as Kelyn Cassidy blasted through best pal Gabriel Dossen in the stand-out bout of this, and many other, year’s Irish National Elite Championships.

The Waterford wizard took home his third consecutive light-heavyweight crown and the Best Male Boxer following a special fight in Dublin. In total, 22 champions were crowned on the South Circular Road on the most important night in the Irish boxing calendar.

Brought forward in light of the Olympic qualifiers in Milan and Bangkok next March and June respectively, the dramatic conclusion of the 2024 championships saw a number of Irish fighters stake their claims.

With five boxers – Kellie Harrington, Aoife O’Rourke, Michaela Walsh, Jack Marley, and Dean Clancy – already assured of places in Paris following their exploits at the European Games earlier this year, attention was focused primarily on the remaining eight Olympic weight categories.

The centrepiece for many was the light-heavyweight southpaw showdown between defending champion Cassidy and European middleweight gold medallist Dossen

Waterford’s Cassidy is perhaps the most improved Irish male boxer of the past few years, reaching the quarter-finals of the 2021 World Championships and the 2023 European Games. The latter saw him hold a lead over Ukrainian Olympic silver medallist Oleksandr Khyzniak going into the final round only to be edged on the final cards. While it was a heroic performance, it meant he fell one win short of qualification for Paris and re-opened the door for Dossen.

The Galway dynamo had shot into the mainstream consciousness when he claimed 2022 European gold in the non-Olympic middleweight division. However, his Olympic plans were thrown into disarray when he was issued a suspension from the IABA related to 2021 legal issues which prevented him from competing in the 2023 Irish Elites and the subsequent Olympic qualifier, with Cassidy meanwhile climbing to new heights.

Close friends and international roommates outside of the ring, the pair shared nine minutes of war within it, with the power of Cassidy proving the difference. A series of left hands in the opener sent Dossen down to the canvas but the Galwegian came firing back with his lightning-fast hands in the second and third of an epic contest which had the Stadium on its feet. Huge, hurtful shots from Cassidy, however, kept sneaking through from unorthodox angles and he took a deserved decision in the end, with the pair sharing a prolonged embrace at the final bell.

It should be noted that winning these championships does not guarantee a boxer a spot on the international team – with in-house assessments also playing a major part. This was seen in the selection of the raw Jennifer Lehane for the European Games – where she fell just one win short of Olympic qualification – despite having lost to Niamh Fay in a scrappy 2023 Irish final. Pitted against each other again here, Lehane’s massive improvements over the past nine months saw her counter-punch and tactically box her way to a unanimous decision win to rubber-stamp her spot as Irish #1 and also claiming the Jimmy Magee Cup for Best Female Boxer.

The difficulty of boxer selection is perhaps no more evident than at welterweight. Offaly’s Gráinne Walsh was the story of the last tournament, defeating light-welterweight world champion Amy Broadhurst only for the Dundalk southpaw to be chosen for the European Games. Broadhurst also fell one win short of Olympic qualification but did not enter here due to a shoulder injury. Also absent through injury was another world champion, Lisa O’Rourke, who has moved down in weight and underlined her credentials with a win over Walsh in Poland in September.

Fighting their own corner, Walsh and Cork’s Christina Desmond had the opportunity to bolster their cases in a repeat of their epic welterweight finals of 2019 and 2020 during the Tokyo Olympic cycle. Desmond won both of those, back when the division’s weight limit sat at 69kg but, at the new 66kg ceiling, Walsh was the far sharper and sprightlier fighter and took an impressive scalp, exacerbating the selection headaches for High Performance chief Zaur Antia.

Light-middleweight was missing injured Olympic bronze medallist Aidan Walsh and reigning champion Dean Walsh did the business to bag title number six. Having upset his Belfast namesake in the last edition, Wexford’s Walsh will feel he tightened his hold on top spot with a workmanlike split-decision win over Armagh battler Eugene McKeever, whose team felt he deserved more, as the resurgence continues.

The most talent-packed division was undoubtedly featherweight and it was Tyrone’s Jude Gallagher who emerged on top. Having beaten Commonwealth gold and European silver medallist Dylan Eagleson in the semis last night, the Newtownstewart power-puncher was too strong for Galway’s Adam Hession here. Gallagher, a Commonwealth gold medallist himself, took the bout on a unanimous decision and will now look forward to the qualifiers where he will hope for a better draw. Last time out, at the European Games, Gallagher was faced with Cuban-Bulgarian Javier Ibanez in his opening bout, losing a tight split-decision and seeing his foe subsequently romp to gold.

Bray southpaws Daina Moorehouse solidified her status as the light-flyweight queen, taking title number four with a comfortable win over Mayo’s Shannon Sweeney. The double European underage champion was another who fell just one win short of Olympic qualification during the summer but the Wicklow pocket-rocket, one of the smallest boxers operating in her weight class, will be fancied to make it over the line next time out.

Similarly dominant at flyweight was Dubliner Sean Mari who overpowered Dundalk’s Ricky Nesbitt to win his third and likely ensure himself another shot, or two, at qualification.

In terms of those already there, Dublin lightweight Harrington and Belfast featherweight Walsh both have a second Games to look forward to next Summer but the pair created Irish history with their respective victories over Tramore’s Zara Breslin and Dubliner Kellie McLoughlin. Their comfortable unanimous wins saw both increase their Irish Elite tallies to eleven, lifting them above Olympic silver medallist Kenneth Egan and Enniscorthy’s Jim O’Sullivan.

Sallynoggin starlet Marley does not turn 21 until next week but he now has three titles to his name, coasting past game Duleek slugger Wayne Rafferty and further showing why he is the most exciting heavyweight to come out of Ireland in decades. Meanwhile, at middleweight, Castlerea’s O’Rourke sealed six-in-a-row via walkover after the withdrawal of former Mayo underage phenom Ciara Ginty. Relatively inexperienced in Tokyo, the triple European champion will be going to France with medals on the mind.

With Sligo’s Clancy out through injury, it was left to Belfast banger JP Hale and Cork soldier Aaron O’Donoghue to go to war at light-welterweight. A breathless slugfest throughout, underdog O’Donoghue took a split-decision which left Team Hale disgusted.

While their Olympic credentials remain to be seen, there was huge interest in the super-heavyweight final which pitted Dublin-based Georgian giant Ilia Mtsariashvili, and his loud cohort of fans, against Crumlin’s highly-regarded Martin McDonagh. Less than two years in the sport and having had less than ten fights, McDonagh has obvious natural talent and legendary coach Phil Sutcliffe believes he has a gem on his hands.

He was given a few early chin-checks by Mtsariashvili – who was a highly decorated international boxer in his homeland – but showed himself to be the superior boxer and better-conditioned athlete as he claimed a unanimous decision win. With this sizeable Georgian test passed, the next question is whether McDonagh is ready to represent Ireland internationally.

Full Results (Olympic Weights in Bold)

• 67kg Ryan McCarthy (Fr. Horgan’s, Cork) outpd Cian Cramer (Cabra, Dublin) 3-2
• 63kg Linda Desmond (Rylane, Cork) outpd Isabella Hughes (St Mary’s, Dublin) 5-0
• 75kg Joshua Olaniyan (Jobstown, Dublin) outpd Christopher O’Reilly (Holy Family, Drogheda) 5-0
• 60kg Kellie Harrington (St Mary’s, Dublin) outpd Zara Breslin (Tramore, Waterford) 5-0
• 48kg Lois Walsh (Fr Flanagan’s, Kildare) outpd Carol Coughlan (Monkstown, Dublin) 4-1
• 48kg Bryce Collins (Holy Trinity, Belfast) W/O
• 60kg Jason Nevin (Olympic Mullingar) outpd Nathan May (Dublin Docklands) 3-2
• 54kg Jennifer Lehane (DCU Athletic) outpd Niamh Fay (Phoenix Ballyboughal, Dublin) 5-0
• 57kg Jude Gallagher (Two Castles, Tyrone) outpd Adam Hession (Monivea, Galway) 5-0
• 50kg Daina Moorehouse (Enniskerry, Wicklow) outpd Shannon Sweeney (St Anne’s, Westport) 5-0
• 75kg Aoife O’Rourke (Olympic Galway) W/O
• 92+kg Martin McDonagh (Crumlin, Dublin) outpd Illia Mtsariashvili (Dublin Docklands) 5-0
• 71kg Dean Walsh (St Ibar’s/Joseph’s, Wexford) outph Eugene McKeever (Holy Family Drogheda) 3-2
• 54kg Danny Duffy (Raphoe, Donegal) outpd Oisin Worsencroft (St Colman’s, Cork) 5-0
• 92kg Jack Marley (Monkstown Dublin) outpd Wayne Rafferty (Dublin Docklands) 5-0
• 57kg Michaela Walsh (Holy Family Belfast) outpd Kellie McLoughlin (St Catherine’s, Dublin) 5-0
• 70kg Shauna Kearney (Bunclody, Wexford) W/O
• 51kg Sean Mari (Monkstown Dublin/Defence Forces) outpd Ricky Nesbitt (Holy Family Drogheda) 5-0
• 66kg Gráinne Walsh (St Mary’s, Dublin) outpd Christina Desmond (Dungarvan, Waterford) 5-0
• 80kg Kelyn Cassidy (Saviours Crystal, Waterford) outpd Gabriel Dossen (Olympic Galway) 4-1
• 63.5kg Aaron O’Donoghue (Golden Gloves, Cork) outpd John Paul Hale (Star, Belfast) 3-2
• 86kg Vitali Ustimov (Celtic Eagles Galway) outpd James Redmond (Ballybrack, Dublin) 5-0