Boxing National Championships Semi-finals Weekend
IRISH AMATEUR BOXING ASSOCIATION
"National Senior Championships Semi Finals Weekend"
IRISH boxing chief Gary Keegan believes that tomorrow night's (January 26th) National Senior Championships semi final between Ryan Lindberg and Carl Frampton at the Stadium in Dublin will be worth the entrance fee alone.
Some of the top boxers in the World, Europe and Ireland will be in the ring tomorrow evening and Saturday when the blue ribband tournament of Irish amateur boxing resumes.
And Keegan reckons that the Lindberg/Frampton showdown could produce one of the last four bouts of the weekend.
Ulster senior bantamweight champ Lindberg (Immaculatta) warmed up for all Belfast showdown with a convincing quarter final win over Sean Kilroy last weekend.
Frampton, (Midland White City) who did not box in the Ulster Seniors this year, received a bye into the semi finals and will be eager to reverse his loss to Lindberg in the Ulster Seniors last year.
Both men go head-to-head in one of nine semi finals at the South Circular Road venue on Friday evening, and Keegan, who heads the IABAs High Performance Programme, is looking forward to some top class boxing.
He said: "The bantamweight semi final looks like it could be one of the contests of the evening but there are also some other very exciting semi finals on offer on Friday and Saturday night.
"The Senior Championships will get very exciting from here on in and we are all looking forward to some top class boxing."
Defending middleweight champion Darren Sutherland returns to competitive action this Friday when he meets Edward Healy in the last four.
Sutherland, a DCU Sports Science student, suffered an eye injury last summer which kept him out of the game for over three months but says that he is confident that he can successfully defend his 75Kg crown.
Meanwhile, St Michael's Athy welterweight Roy Sheahan is keeping his fingers crossed that it will be 13 times lucky at the 2007 National Senior Championships.
The defending 69Kg senior champ says he is determined to add to the twelve Irish titles he has won from underage level up.
But the 22 year old admitted that Friday's nights semi final against Fergal Redmond from Arklow is going to be tough.
He said "I have beaten Fergal already but he is an experienced boxer and he will be really up for this one and it will be a tight fight.
"That's what I'm preparing for anyway and I have a plan and I'm sticking to it and I would be confident that I will successfully defend my title this year."
Defending featherweight champ Eric Donovan will also be in the ring on Friday to meet Limerick ace Willie Casey from the Our Lady of Lourdes club.
If Donovan can advance from this meeting then he could meet his fellow St Michael's Athy team-mate David Oliver Joyce in the final as Joyce meets Ross Hickey in the other semi final on Saturday.
The 2007 National Senior Championships will conclude with finals night on Friday February 2nd.
World and back-to-back European light champ Katie Taylor will meet Finland's Eva Walstrom on seniors final night in a repeat of the 2005 European final which the Bray woman won.
Taylor returned to competitive action last weekend in Galway and took less that one minute to dispatch highly rated Czech puncher Teresa Lukasov at the Toghar Pheadair Boxing Club.
The weigh-in for Fridays semi finals will take place betwwen 8am and 9pm on Friday morning.
National Senior Boxing Championships Semi Finals Friday January 26th. (7.30pm)
48Kg: G McDonagh (Kilcullen) v P Barnes (Holy Family)
54Kg: C Frampton (Midland White City) v Ryan Lindberg (Immaculatta)
57Kg: E Donovan (St Michael's Athy) v W Casey (OLOL)
60Kg: JJ Joyce (St Michael's Athy) v K Crawley (Glasnevin)
64Kg: A Carlyle (Golden Cobra) v E Touhy (Moate)
69Kg: R Sheahan (St Michael's Athy) F Redmond (Arklow)
75Kg: D Sutherland (St Saviours OBA) v E Healy (Portlaoise)
91Kg: I Timms (St Matthews) v J Sweeney (Drimnagh)
91+Kg: A Crampton (St Broughans) v M Sweeney (Drimnagh)
National Senior Boxing Championships Semi Finals Saturday January 27th. (7.30pm)
54Kg: KF Fennessey (Clonmel) v TJ Doheny (Portlaoise)
57Kg: R Hickey (Grangecon) v D O Joyce ( St Michael's Athy)
60Kg: JP Campbell (Edenderry) v C Bates (St Marys Dublin)
64Kg: M Wickham (St Anthony/Pats) v T Dwyer (St Aidens)
69Kg: TJ Hamill (All Saints) v D Joyce (St Michaels Athy)
75Kg: E O'Kane (Immaculatta) v S Shevlin (Dealgan)
81Kg: S Crudden (Enniskillen) v W Mitchell (Dromore)
91Kg: J Sweeney (Dungloe) M Mullaney (Claremorris)
91Kg+:C McMonagle (Holy Trinity) v S Reilly (Drimnagh)