DARREN O’NEILL believes he can solidify his move up to heavyweight by claiming back-to-back Irish senior titles after putting on over two stone in weight in the space of two years.
The London 2012 Olympian is back in action on Saturday night, taking on Stephen Lawrence in the quarter-finals of the men’s Elite National Championships at the National Stadium, with the 2016 domestic tournament being held early ahead of the Olympic qualification campaign next year.
O’Neill begins the defence of his 2015 91kg crown having moved up from the 75kg middleweight limit - where he won four Irish senior titles – earlier this year.
The Kilkenny veteran is determined to make a push for the Games Rio, and he believes he is in a strong position to do so after reassessing his big jump in weight and adjusting his training accordingly.
“I boxed 75kg for 10 years, so for me to step up to 88 or 89 kg, that’s an extra two stone I’m carrying. It’s like someone carrying a rucksack with two stone on their back! That’s what I wasn’t used to.”
O’Neill opted to move up after unsuccessful campaigns at middleweight over the past two years when struggling to make the 75kg weight limit. Joe Ward’s established presence at light-heavyweight (81kg) meant a move to heavyweight (90kg) looked the best potential route to Rio and the Paulstown clubman won the Irish title at the heavier class with a win over Ken Okungbowa last January.
The former Kilkenny under-age hurler claims he delayed a move up in weight in the hope of booking a revenge bout against Jason Quigley, who had claimed a countback win over O’Neill in 2013, but the Donegal native turned professional shortly after sitting out the 2014 national championships.
“75kg was too low for me and realistically, in hindsight, I knew at the start of 2012 that it was too much and my form wasn’t great that year,” said O’Neill. “I went in again in 2014 because I thought Quigley would be back in and the plan was to go in and stop him.”
The 30-year-old was competitive at heavyweight on the international scene this year despite being the naturally smaller man, losing a close call to Gevorg Manukian of Ukraine at the European Games last June before a fighting loss to Russian world champion Evegeny Tischenko at the European Championships two months later.
“Obviously the guys are bigger, they’re hitting a bit harder, and you drain more energy when they’re lying on you or you’re trying to hold them off,” said O’Neill, who has been working with Irish boxing’s S&C coach John Cleary to improve his stamina.
“I’ve been doing a lot of endurance and conditioning stuff… I feel I’m in a lot better condition now than I was in the middle of the summer,” he added. “I’m just looking forward to getting in now and hopefully it all comes together over the next few weeks.”
O’Neill is the star name on Saturday’s men’s bill at the National Stadium, while Katie Taylor is due to compete in her first-ever Irish senior decider at Friday night’s women’s finals night.
