Boxing Karma – Dean Clancy’s Euro medal hopes helped by helping Irish senior side
Dean Clancy goes into the European Under-22 Championships full of confidence after training alongside the Irish senior side and being inspired by their Olympic success.
The 19-year-old claims he could be the beneficiary of positive boxing karma, as he suggests helping High-Performance fighters prepare for their massive week in Paris helped him ahead of his own continental journey.
The decorated underage prospect claims working alongside Kellie Harrington, Brendan Irvine, and co saw him bank valuable experience and confidence. Then watching the team perform and bump Ireland’s Olympic boxing contingent up to seven, motivated the Westerner all the more.
“Training alongside the current Olympic team and aiding in them being successful was a fantastic experience,” Clancy told Irish-Boxing.com.
“Sparring and training alongside them was a great boost of confidence and it was even better to see how successful we have been in the recent European Olympic Qualifiers. I think working with the team and seeing their success has greatly motivated me to go on and perform at an elite level.”
📣 TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT 📣
— IABA (@IABABOXING) June 14, 2021
Here are the 🔟 athletes who will be representing #TeamIreland at the @EUBCBOXING U22 Championships in 🇮🇹 from June 17-24!
GO TEAM IRELAND! 🥊🇮🇪#IABA #TeamIreland #U22Euros pic.twitter.com/k8bj0h9qeh
With added confidence and motivation, the Sligo native who fights out Leitrim club Sean McDermott’s is targeting a third European medal – having won silver at Junior and Youth level – and will be going for gold in Italy.
“I was delighted to be selected for the team and feel very confident about the tournament,” the reigning National Elite featherweight champion continued speaking ahead of a tournament he enters as a light welterweight.
“I’m definitely going out here to perform and win gold, performance is key as I’m still young and new to the High Performance. I’m excited to go out and perform and see what the next few weeks months and years hold, especially since moving up a weight class.”
Clancy hasn’t seen competitive action since he fought in the Strandja Memorial in early 2020 but isn’t adamant he enters the latest European Under-22 instalment fit and ready to go.
“The Irish coaches have done a tremendous job in getting us all in fighting shape ahead of the under22 Europeans. I’m buzzing to get back into the ring after a 16 months lay off due to COVID.”
“Obviously it’s been tough through repeated lockdowns and rules setbacks but still managed to keep on top of my training. I was ticking over with my Dad at home, my Dad plays a massive role in my success,” he adds before discussing the change in weight.
“Since moving up in weight class I feel much stronger and matured as a boxer. I’m really looking forward to the Europeans and want to thank all the High Performance coaches, management, and Bernard Dunne for getting us all in tip top shape ahead of this tournament.”
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