The days of the count back may be over in boxing following the introduction of the 10 point must scoring system, but some of the bouts are equally tight, as was proven in the 2013 National Junior Cadet Championships last weekend.
The championships got under way at the National Stadium in Dublin on Friday evening and all day Saturday. Three Mayo boxers advanced to the semi-final of the competition over the two days of boxing. Jack Kavanagh (Swinford BC ) got the Mayo boxers off to good proceedings in the 38.5 Kg division with a third round TKO of Jake Ryan (Ennis BC ). Kavanagh looked impressive during the bout given standing counts to his opponent in rounds one and two before the bout was stopped in round three. Matthew Mc Donagh Geesala BC (44.5 Kg ) was the next Mayo boxer in action and his opponent was Harrison Jameson (Virginia BC ). The Mayo boy spent no time disposing of the Cavan boxer in the opening round. Eric Nash (Knockmore BC ) had a tough and well experienced opponent in Niall Carroll (Ryston BC ).
Nash boxed extremely well in rounds two and three but may have lost the first round by a small margin. The Mayo boy narrowly won the second round but in round three he left no doubt who was the better boxer, putting his Kildare rival under pressure from the opening bell and catching him with good clean body shots. The Mayo boxer advanced to the quarter finals in style even though one judge gave it against him. Jack Kavanagh (Swinford BC ) was back into the ring the following morning and had a much tougher contest than his previous bout in the championships. Kavanagh defeated Eamer Coughlan (Riverstown BC ) over three hard contested rounds and advanced to the semi finals of the event, next Friday evening, on a split decision of 29-28, 29-28, and 28-29. Eric Nash was outstanding in his quarter finals against Callum Toland (Oakleaf BC, Derry ) and was a convincing winner giving Toland a standing count in round three. Nash had his hand raised after scores of 30-26, 30-26, and 30-25 was announced in his favour. The Mayo boxer will now box Peter McCartan (Bishop Kelly BC ) who the Knockmore boy defeated in the 2013 National semi finals on a score of 14-2. Nash’s coach (dad ) Trevor said they would take one contest at a time and he was not looking beyond the semi finals. Nash himself said he is looking forward to his semi-final on Friday evening and hopefully going all the way to represent Ireland in the European Junior championships in City West at the end of July. Martin Collins had obtained a walkover to the semi final of the championships and defeated Conor Gleeson (Old School BC ) in the 76+ Kg division. After a scrappy bout Collins had his hand raised but will have to improve on his performance if he is to defeat Blaine O’ Brien (Clonmel BC ) in the final on Friday evening next.
