Athlone Boxing Club is celebrating one of its greatest achievements this week after Cheyanne O’Neill (17 ) took a silver medal at the inaugural European Youth Boxing Championships in Assisi, Italy at the weekend.
The young woman from Battery Heights, fighting at lightweight (60kg ), had to defeat the reigning world champion Iryna Yaskova of Ukraine en route to the final, where she was defeated by the AIBA World Youth welterweight champion Agnes Alexiusson of Sweden.
In an example of the dedication required for such an achievement, Cheyanne has spent almost the last month away from home at both training camp, and the championships themselves.
As a result of this accomplishment she will now progress to the Irish elite boxing set-up under the tutelage of coaches Saur Antic and Billy Walsh, who were behind Ireland’s superb four medals at the 2012 London Olympics.
“The standard of boxing was incredible [so] it’s a remarkable feat to be able to call herself number two in Europe. Her commitment to training is unsurpassed, and Cheyanne would train 24/7 if given the chance. She has done herself, her family, and her club proud, and will now set the bar higher to surpass her achievements in the future,” said her coach Rory Parkes.
