Sweeney is crowned Irish heavyweight champion

A superb first round in which he floored his opponent with a big right laid the foundations for Gary Sweeney to become the first Galway boxer in 18 years to land an Irish senior title at the National Stadium, Dublin, on Friday night.

The Olympic BC heavyweight and Knocknacarra resident had to overcome a spirited third round fight-back from Steven Ward (Monkstown BC) before securing his elite championship by two rounds to one.

“It was brilliant, the way the fight turned out, after two months of hard training. It was a great feeling when I knocked him for the count in the first, but Ward was tough and he kept coming back and back at me. He was very strong and he had a good third round, but I felt brilliant. I knew I was kind of winning it, but it was great to get the verdict in the end.”

With his brother and trainer, Michael, and veteran Olympic BC trainer John Mongan in his corner, Sweeney started his final brimful of confidence and enjoyed the perfect start when he knocked Ward to the canvas.

He became the first Galway-based boxer to win a senior title since Olympian Francie Barrett (also Olympic BC) claimed the light-welterweight belt back in 1996.

Sweeney, who only turns 20 on April 1, had gone into the final as the underdog but was clearly full of confidence after overcoming Bernard O’Reilly (Portlaoise BC) in the semi-final the previous weekend. His brother and manager admitted they were a little nervous as they waited for the verdict in the end.

“I had John Mongan beside me in the corner, who has seen many’s a fight. He said we had won the first and second, but the third was too close to call,” laughed Michael Sweeney yesterday. “It was very close in the end.”

The Galway man, who received a hero’s welcome at the Olympic BC last night, has little time to rest on his laurels as he is due to box for Ireland against Pakistan at the National Stadium this coming Friday night.