Festival of boxing to take place next year in Cork

THE Cork County Boxing Board will this year include a unique and prestigious exclusive event to enhance their programme for the coming season.

The Leeside Olympic Festival of Boxing will take place over two days on the week- end of Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th January next. This special Tournament will facilitate exactly 100 boxers who will compete in all age groups and categories, from boy 1 and girl 1 right up to Elite status.

The 100 entries marks the one hundred years of Ireland’s participation in boxing at the Olympic Games.

The Boxing Bonanza will be organised through specific guidelines with a criteria of equality based to facilitate early entrants and will be open to all boxers in Cork and the Munster region.

The Olympic Games of 1924 in Paris was the inaugural appearance of the Irish boxers.

At those games Ireland was represented by a seven-man team three of whom came from Cork, Mossy Doyle, Jim Kelleher and Willie ‘Boy Murphy. 

This automatically places Cork boxing in a very prominent historical place, and the event Co-ordinator Michael O’Brien is thrilled.

“This will be an outstanding weekend of boxing which will afford all followers of the sport an opportunity to take pride in the history of the sport on Leeside," O'Brien said.

The two-day event will be hosted by the Northside Boxing Club, which is located in the Old Sunbeam industrial estate in Blackpool.

The Head Coach in this club is Paul Buttimer an Olympian in Barcelona in 1992.

Cork, currently has three male Olympians who it is hoped will play a very active role during this tournament.

In addition to Buttimer, Kieran Joyce an Olympian in 1984 in Los Angeles and Seoul in 1988, and Michael Roche who had the distinction of being Ireland only qualifier for the Games in Sidney in 2000 will be invited to present the Medals.

Cork’s only female Olympian is Christina Desmond. 

She was a participant and represented Ireland at the Junior Olympics in Nan Zing, China in 2013.

She will also be invited to present the medals, and she, like her male Olympians, has always been and still is an outstanding Cork Boxing Ambassador.

The special designed medals will be unique to every boxer.

The Medal will carry the Olympic Logo, and will provide the athletes with a cherished memory as they reflect on the boxing careers, long after their retirement.

The full and comprehensive details pertaining to Cork’s Olympic Boxing Special event will be published and fully outlined on Friday 3rd November.

Meanwhile, the Senior Championships commenced at the National Stadium last weekend.

Cork had boxers from a number of Clubs participating in the first round.

These Championships will continue again next weekend.

The County Board has extended best wishes to all Cork boxers.

During last year’s Senior Championships Aaron O’Donoghue from the Golden Gloves Club, gave magnificent display of skilled boxing and returned to Leeside as Senior Champion.

Aaron following his Senior success was selected as the Winner of the Paddy Martin Cup by the Cork Ex-Boxers Association. 

The presentation of the Cup was due to take place six months ago, but was delayed due to Minister Micheál Martin’s political commitments as Minister for Foreign Affairs.

The Cup will now be presented to Aaron O’Donoghue in the near future.

The first round of the Cork Boxing League will take place on Thursday 19th October and will run weekly thereafter.

The venue is the Northside Boxing Club. The match maker is Shane Forde and all clubs are requested to co-operate efficiently and helpfully with the difficult task of facilitating coaches and boxers.

Recently the Cork Ex-Boxers Association resumed their monthly meetings at the Glen Boxing Club.

Once again, the Glen, and Tom Kelleher was warmly thanked for facilitating these meetings.

CEBA are now only beginning to resume all activities.

Amongst the outstanding listed agenda is a campaign to increase membership, to erect a plaque at the practice room of the Butter exchange Band in Dominick Street, to nominate a date and venue for the presentation of the Annual Hall of Fame Award, to produce a Christmas Card celebrating Cork’s Olympic Boxing history of one hundred years.

And to organise in December a reunion of many Former Cork Boxers to enjoy a morning of nostalgia, music and light refreshment which would help to consolidate all members and supporters within the Cork Boxing Family.

Elsewhere, the Cork Boxing Fraternity wish to congratulate Peter O’Mahony on winning his 100 International Rugby Cap for Ireland in Paris last Saturday night. 

He was also a member of Ireland’s Grand Slam winning team earlier this year.

Tánaiste Micheál Martin conveyed his congratulations, exactly 75 years ago, Glen Boxing Club and Ireland boxer Ernie Keeffe who played rugby with Sunday's Well was on the first Irish team to win a Rugby Grand Slam.

On that historic occasion Ernie was congratulated by his Glen B.C. and Boxing International team mate Paddy Martin, father of the Tánaiste.