Cork Boxing: Cork clubs and boxers not happy with the venue for the intermediate championships

On Saturday, the focus of many Cork boxers and clubs was on the first round of the National Intermediate Boxing Championships which took place in Drogheda.

Many Cork boxing officials expressed serious concern about the location of this venue and registered their disappointment of the IABA with the county board. 

These championships are an important and prestigious competition to all boxers and clubs. 

Regretfully, however, last weekend the boxers found themselves locked out of the National Boxing Stadium to facilitate a concert. 

The consensus of boxing opinion on Leeside is that this is not good enough, and the IABA must acknowledge the concern of the grassroots, after all when the Government of the day provided this stadium for the IABA in 1939, they did not provide it for concerts.

Meanwhile, another great round of the Cork boxing leagues took place at the Cove Boxing Club in Cobh last Thursday night. 

This venue has been widely acclaimed as a very good location. 

County board secretary John Wiseman said that the facilities available in this club are a credit to Cove BC, and he expressed his gratitude to the hardworking committee for their work in preparing the club for the weekly leagues programme which will continue every Thursday night. 

Last Saturday afternoon the Muskerry Boxing Club held a tournament in Colàiste Choilm in Ballincollig. 

This bill produced some very competitive boxing, which fully entertained all supporters of the sport.

The venue was first class and the club, and the Cork County Boxing Board expressed their gratitude to the college authorities for facilitating the Muskerry BC, to market and promote the sport of amateur boxing.

Photographer Doug Minahane captured all the action at the Muskerry BC show and pictures from the show will be featured in the Echo.

Elsewhere, the famed and picturesque village of Blarney has had a boxing club in the village for many years. 

This club participated in Cork boxing championships at various intervals. 

The Blarney boxing club came and went on at least four occasions, and the loss or lack of a suitable premises was always the main obstacle for a club which produced many juvenile champions. 

It is now over 30 years since a club emerged out of Blarney. 

The last club was a very competitive unit in Cork boxing championships and the excellent coach at that time was Danny Mathews.

Just over one hundred years ago in 1922 the first two Cork men to win national senior boxing titles under IABA rules were Connie Clarke from the Blarney Boxing Club, who won the heavyweight title, and Joe Buckley from the Mallow Boxing Club, who won the bantam title. 

Joe Buckley senior, who was the real trailblazer of the Buckley boxing clan from Mallow, was featured prominently last year when the Cork County Board, in association with the Glen Boxing Club, promoted a boxing tournament to honour the contribution the Buckleys made to the Cork boxing landscape. 

However, the forgotten man of Cork boxing was equally a history maker and that was Clarke of Blarney, who competed under the registered name of CN Clarke.

This matter will now be addressed in the new year when the Cork board will unveil a plaque honouring the great boxing achievements of Con Clarke on an appropriate wall in the Muskerry Arms which enjoys a thriving business in the centre of Blarney. 

This venture is fully supported by the O'Connor brothers’ proprietors, who have always been great supporters of the sport of boxing. 

The next Cork Boxing Breakfast is scheduled for Saturday, 17th January, and this will again take place in the Muskerry Arms and this is the date pencilled in to honour the Blarney boxing All-Ireland heavyweight champion Connie Clarke.

Meanwhile, On Monday next, December 1st, the CEO from the IABA Gary Stuart will travel to Cork to make a presentation of a silver plate to the Glen Boxing Club to mark the club’s centenary of their first tournament. 

This took place on the 27th of November 1925 and on the 14th of November recently, the club celebrated the historic occasion with a major senior boxing tournament with pictures from that event featured on this page. 

During his visit to Cork, the CEO will also visit the new Boxing Wall in Bishop Lucey Park. 

Gary Stuart will pay a courtesy visit to the Lord Mayor's office and have discussion with officials of the county board regarding a major boxing promotion in the Cork City Hall which may take place in the new year.

Elsewhere, news came from Dublin last week that Zaur Antia was retiring from his post as the most successful international coach in Irish boxing history. 

For 23 years Irish international boxing was the envy of many countries, having secured the services of a technical genius. 

Amongst the vast array of success achieved during his tenure in world and European championships, Zaur said this.

“The three Olympic gold medals won by Katie Taylor and Kellie Harrington, twice, was the crowning glory of my career."

Two hours after Kellie Harrington won her second consecutive gold Olympic medal, Zaur rang this writer and with a delirious laughing tone asked "are you happy?"

A couple of years ago Zaur and his wife were honoured at a Cork Boxing Breakfast which took place at the Rochestown Park Hotel. 

He presented his tracksuit top from the Olympic Games to Cork Boxing and now this is on display out in the Museum in the Glen Boxing Club. Zaur would never have seen Ireland but for the Cork connection and that was Dan O'Connell. 

Dan, a former chairman of the Cork Boxing Board, was also a much-acclaimed international referee and judge, and while on international duty abroad he spotted the technical skill set of the man from Georgia. 

He immediately put a plan in place to lure Antia to the Emerald isle and the rest is history. 

The full fascinating story of Zaur Antia and the Cork connection will appear in the Echo during the month of December.