OLYMPIC champion Kellie Harrington strolled to a facile win in the lightweight division at the IABA Elite championships in a packed National Stadium on Saturday night.
n her first fight on Irish soil since the Tokyo Olympics she totally dominated against Zara Breslin (Tramore) winning on landslide scores of 30-26, 30-26, 30-25,30-24,30-24.
After a slow start Harrington got into her stride in the second round, repeatedly trapping her opponent on the ropes before emphasizing her dominance in a final stanza with some eye-catching body shots.
It was her tenth elite title, but she declined to speak to the media afterwards.
“I have loads to say but you know the saying ‘loose lips sink ships’, was her only remark apart from declaring that her club coach club Noel Burke was the best around.
Self-evidently the reigning Olympic and European champion is unhappy about something but for the moment she is not willing to articulate what it is.
Earlier, European silver medallist Dylan Eagleson won his first elite title in the non-Olympic bantamweight division with a unanimous 5-0 (30-27, 30-27, 30-27, 29-28, 29-28) win over Spanish native Jorge Rogla – who was boxing out of Corinthians BC – despite being well below his best.
He revealed afterwards he had been ill for the last three weeks and this obviously impacted on his preparations.
Even though it is no longer an Olympic weight, the 60kg men’s final between Davey Joyce (Holy Family, Drogheda) and Jason Nevin (Olympic, Mullingar) produced a classic encounter. Though Nevin had a significant height advantage, it was Joyce who was the more accurate puncher and landed the bigger shots.
The key moment came midway through the second round when Nevin was given a standing count which tilted the contest in favour of his rivals and he won on four of the judges’ cards (30-28, 29-28, 29-28, 29-28) to take the title 4-1. Later Eugene McKeever won the welterweight title with a 3-2 win over Ryan McCarthy (Fr Horgan’s, Cork) giving Holy Family coach Damien McKenna his fourth elite title of the evening.
As expected, international Niamh Fay (Ballyboughal) won the bantamweight title with a 5-0 win over Jennifer Lehane (DCU).
Women’s Finals:
54kg: Niamh Fay (Ballybougal) bt Jennifer Lehane (DCU) 5-0
48kg: Nicole Buckley (St Carthage’s) bt Ciara Walsh (Smithfield) 4-1
60kg: Kellie Harrington (St Mary’s, Dublin) bt Zara Breslin (Tramore) 5-0
Men’s Finals
60kg: Davey Joyce (Holy Family, Drogheda) bt Jason Nevin (Olympic, Mullingar) 4-1
67kg: Eugene McKeever (Holy Family, Drogheda) bt Ryan McCarthy (Fr Horgan’s Cork)
54kg: Dylan Eagleson (St. Paul’s, Antrim) beat Jorge Rogla Castanno (Corinthians)
