Blaine Dobbins – “I boxed out of my skin”
He promised he would after his semi final, and on Friday night Blaine Dobbins announced himself as the new number one light flyweight in Ireland.
The experienced little man claimed the Elite Senior title at the National Stadium with a 3-2 split decision win over Donegal youngster Darryl Moran.
In a tight fight, Dobbins would land the cleaner shots on the relentless Buncrana boxer to take a win which the majority of those at ringside felt he merited.
It was a huge moment for the 25 year old Derry boxer who has spent years on the sidelines as Paddy Barnes ruled the roost in amateur boxing’s smallest weight class, and he said afterwards that “it’s best feeling in the world.”
“Words can’t describe how good it feels to be the Elite champion in Ireland at light flyweight.”
Delighted with his showing on the big stage, Dobbins described how “I boxed out of my skin, it was probably the best I’ve ever performed. I did everything I was told from the coaches and it worked, everything worked.”
“I felt good, I’d done a lot of work this last while and I was fit so I knew if I did what I could do then I was going to win. I know Darryl well, we’ve done great sparring, and he did well tonight. He was fit, but my boxing was just a different level. He caught me with some good shots, but the cleaner punches came from me.”
The St Joseph’s fighter looks likely to represent Ireland at the upcoming European Championships in Kharkiv, Ukraine, and should join the High Performance set up in Abbottstown shortly, something which will no doubt help him kick on to the next level.
Dobbins outlined how “hopefully now I’ll be selected to go to the Europeans with the Irish team and go down and join the High Performance, I’ll take it from there and stay focused. That’s my next plan.”
Sharp, compact, mature, and able to raise his game when needed – it looks like the Irish light flyweight spot is in safe hands going forward with Blaine Dobbins.
Photo Credit: Ricardo Guglielminotti – The Fighting Irish (@ThefIrish)
