TONIGHT’S SENIOR FINALS took place at the National Stadium without the Tokyo Olympians but it was a former Ireland team captain, whose international heyday occurred a decade ago and more, who managed to reclaim headlines with an eighth Irish Elite title.
An old dog for a new division, Paulstown’s Darren O’Neill, 36, entered this year’s tournament on a whim following a four-year hiatus but he was crowned its inaugural cruiserweight (86kg) king this evening as he saw off the challenge of DCU’s Faolain Rahill.
London 2012 Olympian O’Neill rounded off this somewhat unlikely fairytale with a unanimous decision, dominating the first and third rounds from his southpaw stance against the rangier Rahill, who battled his way into the contest in the second.
O’Neill’s savvy and astutely selected punch combinations propelled him to a memorable victory and in his post-fight interview, he refused to rule out a return at next year’s competition where he may yet pursue a ninth national title
"Its 4 years since I fought last"
— Spórt TG4 (@SportTG4) October 2, 2021
Bua ag @DarrenONeillOLY i 86KG na bhFear
Thats some comeback... agus comhghairdeachas 💒🐶#IrishEliteChamps | @IABABOXING @sportireland pic.twitter.com/KsNjRnWhqS
A bout later, a man literally half O’Neill’s age won his first championship at this level in the heavyweight — 92kg — division: Dubliner Jack Marley (Monkstown), a European U22 bronze medalist, was in vicious form as he rained fire on Westmeath’s Marcin Skalski (Athlone), earning a unanimous decision.
Marley, 18, is the second youngest ever champion in the division per Irish-boxing.com journalist Joe O’Neill. His victory in the absence of Irish no.1 Kirill Afanasev who withdrew from the tournament — and more pertinently, how Marley went about it — may yet see him force his way into contention for international selection with the World Championships due to take place later this month.
In one of the picks of the women’s bouts on the night, a clash of two extremely talented flyweights went the way of longtime prodigy Daina Moorehouse of Wicklow, who beat Kildare’s Niamh Earley with another unanimous call. This, though, was a close encounter in which Enniskerry’s Moorehouse — probably operating a division above her prime fighting weight in this 52kg bracket — produced the neater, more visible shots to become a two-time Elite champ. Earley, meanwhile, remains an elite talent worth following and might yet become ‘the’ woman in the division if Moorehouse drops down in future.
Up at 54kg, meanwhile, Canadian great Sara Haghightat-Joo — these days fighting out of St Brigid’s, Offaly — beat European Youth champion Niamh Fay on a 3-2 split to become Irish bantamweight champion. Haghightat-Joo has lived here for a number of years since marrying a Galway man and is in the process of applying for Irish citizenship. It remains to be seen if she can represent her adopted homeland at this year’s Worlds, at which she would be a significant medal hope. Youngster Fay, meanwhile, while she came up short in a bout which oozed quality from both sides, is a talent we’ll hear plenty more of.
Early doors and off TV, there was an expected unanimous-decision victory for Galway’s Gabriel Dossen (Olympic BC) against the tough and game Derryman Sean Donaghy (St Canice’s BC) at 75kg. In a middleweight clash between southpaws, Dossen forced two standing counts of Donaghy on his way to a second Elite title but the Ulster fighter survived to see the final bell.
The night ended, however, with a serious shock and a sensational stoppage as Waterford’s Kelyn Cassidy landed his first Elite title inside a round against Cork’s heavily favoured Tommy Hyde at 86kg.
Cassidy (Saviours Crystal) rocked Hyde with a couple of early bombs, inflicting upon him two standing counts before the fight was waved off much to Hyde’s disappointment.
Cassidy announced himself on the scene with a ruthless display and admitted afterwards that even he didn’t expect the fight to play out in such a manner as he threw his name in the hat for High Performance Unit involvement and international selection.
Sár críoch againn anocht i Staid Náisiúnta.
— Spórt TG4 (@SportTG4) October 2, 2021
An bua faighte ag Kelyn Cassidy sa chéad babhta! 🔵👏
A great win for Kelyn Cassidy over Tommy Hyde in the first round.
Beo/Live ar @TG4TV
@sportireland @IABABOXING #IrishEliteChamps pic.twitter.com/lZtF0KNyVy
Irish Elite finals: results
Walkovers:
- 48KG Ricky Nesbitt W/O
- 54KG Jake Rapple W/O
- 60KG Amy Broadhurst W/O
- 75KG Aoife O’Rourke W/O
Live stream:
- 75KG Gabriel Dossen (Olympic, Galway) beat Sean Donaghy (St Canice’s, Derry) 5-0
- 63KG Eve Woods (Corinthians, Dublin) beat Gillian Duffy (St Mary’s, Dublin) 5-0
- 66KG Kaci Rock (Enniskerry, Wicklow) beat Kiesha Attwell (Tobair Pheadair, Galway) RSC3
- 81KG Bethany Doocey (Castlebar, Mayo) beat Nel Fox (Rathkeale, Limerick) 5-0
- 86KG Darren O’Neill (Paulstown, Kilkenny) beat Faolain Rahill (DCU, Dublin) 5-0
- 92KG Jack Marley (Monkstown, Dublin) beat Marcin Skalski (Athlone, Westmeath) 5-0
- 92+KG Martin Keenan (Rathkeale, Limerick) beat Thomas Maughan (Cavan B.C) 3-2
Televised on TG4:
- 48KG Shannon Sweeney (St. Annes Westport) beat Carol Coughlin (Monkstown, Dublin) 5-0
- 51KG Paddy McShane (Letterkenny, Donegal) beat Paudraic Downey (St John Bosco, Antrim) 3-2
- 50KG Caitlin Fryers (Immaculata, Antrim) beat Nicole Clyde (Antrim B.C) 5-0
- 52KG Daina Moorehouse (Enniskerry, Wicklow) beat Niamh Early (Ryston, Kildare) 5-0
- 57KG Adam Hession (Monivea, Galway) beat Sean Purcell (Saviours Crystal, Waterford) 5-0
- 54KG Sara Hagightat-Joo (St Brigid’s, Offaly) beat Niamh Fay (Ballyboughal, Dublin) 3-2
- 60KG John Paul Hale (Star, Antrim) beat Dominic Bradley (Emerald, Antrim) 5-0
- 57KG Jennifer Lehane (DCU, Dublin) beat Kellie McLoughlin (Drimnagh, Dublin) 5-0
- 63.5KG Brandon McCarthy (St Michael’s Athy, Kildare) beat Jack McGivern (St George’s, Antrim) 5-0
- 67KG Eugene McKeever (Holy Family, Louth) beat Wayne Kelly (Ballynacargy, Westmeath) 4-1
- 70KG Evelyn Igharo (Clann Naofa, Louth) beat Lisa O’Rourke (Castlerea, Roscommon) 5-0
- 71KG Kieran Molloy (Oughterard, Galway) beat Luke Maguire (Esker, Dublin) 5-0
- 80KG Kelyn Cassidy (Saviours Crystal, Waterford) beat Tommy Hyde (St Michaels Athy, Kildare) RSC1
