Ireland’s leading amateur boxers honoured today
Ireland’s leading boxers, past and present, were honoured today by the Association of Sports Journalists in Ireland in conjunction with Lucozade Sport, presenting the latest in their Sporting Legends Luncheon series.
In a function deigned to mark the centenary of the Irish Amateur Boxing Association, the ten most prolific winners of the National Senior Championship titles are assembled in The Radisson Hotel, Stillorgan, Co. Dublin to receive their special commemorative awards.
Between them, Kenny Egan (10), Jim O’Sullivan (10), Harry Perry (9), Mick Dowling (8), Neil Gough (8), Jim Mc Court (7), Billy Walsh (7), Alan Reynolds (7), Andrew Reddy (6) and Ciaran Joyce (6) have amassed a staggering total of 78 titles.
Now in company with Michael Carruth who is to receive a special presentation to celebrate his achievement in becoming the first Irish Boxer to win an Olympic Gold Medal in Barcelona in 1992, they come together in one of the social highlights of the IABA centenary celebrations.
Peter Byrne, President of the ASJI commented that, “No sport has profiled Ireland’s image abroad better or more consistently than Boxing and it is no coincidence that people are again looking to our boxers to spear-head the Irish challenge for Olympic medals in London next year”.
Among the great sporting occasions already recalled in the ASJI/Lucozade Sporting Legends series were the Cavan and Kerry teams in the 1947 Polo Grounds All-Ireland final, Cork’s 3-in-a-row hurling wins in the 1970s, Irelands Rugby Grand Slam victory in 1948, Ireland’s Olympic Games squad in 1956 and the All-Ireland football team which played Brazil at Lansdowne Road in 1973.
Speaking on behalf of Lucozade Sport, Jim Geraghty commented on the boxers accomplishments. “These Irish Boxing Legends are genuine sporting heroes. Lucozade Sport is delighted to honour and acknowledge their achievements past and present. It’s a very nostalgic occasion and we are very pleased to be associated with it”, concluded Geraghty.
