O'Neill cruises as Barnes is handed title

BOXING SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS:THE SENIOR Championships gloved off in the Stadium last night with all the drama and colour expected of one of the most keenly awaited competitions for many years. With 101 competitors, compared to last year's 65, the National Stadium bustled as four weight divisions went through the preliminary rounds prior to today's quarter-finals, with the finals scheduled for February 20th.

While three-time losing finalist and this year’s middleweight favourite, Darren O’Neill, easily advanced, the current shining lights of the sport, Olympic finalist Ken Egan and bronze medallist Paddy Barnes, were not scheduled to fight.

Egan received a bye into the semi-final and will fight Denis Hogan next Friday night, while Barnes has been declared the 2009 champion at 48kg without having to throw a punch. The Holy Family fighter was the only boxer to weigh in for that division and hit the scales at 47.9kg, Dublin Docklands’ Declan Geraghty having moved up to 51kg.

The scalps of Egan and Barnes are the most prized over the next few weeks, with Egan seeking a record ninth consecutive title. Committed to the 2012 Olympics, his career path may take him past the national senior record held by Jim O’Sullivan, who has won 10 titles. Mick Dowling, with eight in a row from 1968 to 1975, is on equal terms with the Neilstown man, although Dowling won all of his in the bantamweight division.

Egan earned his first two at middleweight in 2001-02 before moving up to light heavyweight.

But last night eyes were on O’Neill, who had lost to Egan in the 2005 and 2006 finals at light heavyweight before moving down to middleweight, where he was then defeated last year by the Olympic medallist and now professional, Darren Sutherland.

O’Neill is this year’s pick for the 75kg title and showed early on why he is fancied. The Kilkenny man took a 6-1 lead after the first round against Edward Healy from Portlaoise. Healy, who lost to Sutherland in the 2006 middleweight final, went after O’Neill in the second round but the former Kilkenny minor hurler effortlessly picked him off and extended his lead to 11-2.

While O’Neill suffered a cut chin in a heavy-punching third round, he was safely through, the final score a resounding 19-3.

Stephen O’Reilly from the Twin Towns club was also eye-catching in his 8-6 middleweight win over Olympic’s Brian Brosnan, while the closest fight of the evening was Patrick Ward’s win over Gorey’s Niall Murray in the 64kg division. The first bout of the night ended 7-7 with Ward going though 17-16 on the count back.

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS (at the National Stadium) – 64kg: P Ward (Olympic) bt N Murray (Gorey) 7-7 (17-16 count back); N McGinley (Bishop Kelly) bt P Barbour (Dromore) RSC 2. 69kg: J Dowling (Paulstown) bt R Brennan (Dealgan) RSC 3; N Sommers (St Matthew’s) bt D Walsh (St John’s) RSC 3; F Redmond (Arklow) bt S Murtagh (Crumlin) 9-8; C McCauley (Dealgan) bt S Hunt (St Matthew’s) RSC 2; M McNamara (St Francis) by Z Buyaliskis (Arklow) 8-4. 75kg: D O’Neill (Paulstown) bt E Healy (Portlaoise) 19-3; JJ McDonagh (Brosna) bt M Carlyle (Crumlin) 12-6; L Keeler (St Matthew’s) bt S Shevlin (Dealgan) RSC 1. 91kg: D Traynor (St Bronagh’s) bt M Mullaney ret 3rd; J Sweeney (Drimnagh) bt S Crudden (Enniskillen) RSC 2.