Stylish Thomas McCarthy is “something special”

In what was the performance of the night, Thomas McCarthy claimed the National Senior (Intermediate) flyweight title at the National Stadium on Friday night.

The Douglas BC fighter oozed quality and claimed a comprehensive (30:27 x3) win over Blessington’s Jason Smith in the decider, forcing a count on his Wicklow opponent in the third round.

The Rebel showed some outrageous footwork throughout the bout, at times looking more like a figure skater than a flyweight, as well as some lovely combinations, always finishing with a sneaky body shot.

Afterwards the Cork teenager, who won his sixth national title, spoke to Irish-Boxing.com and admitted that “I felt comfortable throughout the first round, I was throwing nice shots, I was kinda dominant. He kept coming at me, so the first couple of punches I was trying to keep my range, and he was trying to be rangey, but it weren’t working so he came to the fight and I got it out of him. He was a good young fella at the end of the day.”

With the return to the ten-point must system, McCarthy was wary of coasting in the fight, and he explained how “I thought I had it in the first two rounds, nothing against the opponent, and then in the third round I tried to make it hard for him. He weren’t hitting me when I was moving so I just kept on my feet moving and counter-punching, it worked, it was nice to do.”

“You see some of the fights, they can be close, so they say be dominant from the first round to the last, and it worked thanks be to God.”

The confident teen has a real star quality about him, that manages to not veer into the territory of arrogance, and McCarthy described how at “eighteen years of age and to win an Intermediates is something special.”

“Now it’s straight for the Elites, I’m going to go straight for them!”

“I train hard, I work hard, and when you work hard for something you get the outcome.”