Kelly Harrington “looking forward to getting going again” at lightweight

Kelly Harrington takes her first step towards the Tokyo 2020 Olympics on Friday night in Dublin.

The Glasnevin star has stepped down from 64kg to the Olympic-eligible weight class of lightweight, and will take on Tipperary’s Shauna O’Keefe in the National Senior Elite final.

Harrington, who won silver at 64kg last year at the World Championships, has received a bye into the final, and is raring to go in what will be her first ever 3×3 minutes contest.

The 27 year old told Irish-Boxing.com that “I’m looking forward to getting going again and stepping back in between those ropes.”

Reflecting on a breakthrough past year, Harrington described how “I had a mad year in 2016, some good and bad memories, but mostly good. A lot of work went into women’s boxing in 2016 from the IABA and I have a feeling they will do the same again this year with the women.”

“Women’s boxing is on the up in Ireland. We’re getting a lot more support then we ever did before which is just fantastic. There are gonna be some cracking fights on Friday night. It’s a night not to be missed so I just hope that we all get the support we deserve on the night.”

It will be Harrington’s first fight at 60kg in a long time, and while the weight wont be too much of an issue, she admits that she is looking forward to indulging herself afterwards.

“On Saturday I will feast my lips on a whopper Five Guys burger and chips!” she laughed.

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Eric Donovan joins Gavan Casey and Joe O’Neill on Episode 2 of the Irish Boxing Show: