Kickboxer Brosnan is king of the world
Date Published: {J}
STEPHEN GLENNON
CITY man Brian Brosnan was the toast of Irish kickboxing when he became the first Irish competitor to win a gold medal in full contact kickboxing at the WAKO World Kickboxing Championships in Dublin last Saturday evening.
The Galway Kickboxing Club member beat Stelyan Avramidi of Kazakhstan to claim the gold medal at -71kg by unanimous decision at the Citywest Hotel and Conference Centre.
Coached by his father Denis, Brosnan’s gold was one of six medals secured by Ireland at the prestigious WAKO championships, which represents the highest level there is in the sport.
Brosnan – formerly of Galway Black Dragon Kickboxing Club – had a tough route to the final. He had to fight twice on the opening day of the championships as he was unseeded and was drawn in the preliminary round.
Along the way, he fought a Hungarian, a Russian and a Ukrainian before he finally saw of his opponent from Kazakhstan in the decider.The 22-year-old, though, is no stranger to success, having won the All-Ireland senior superlightweight kickboxing championship as a 17-year-old in 2006 before travelling to Croatia for the U-18 World Kickboxing Championships.
Although fighters from over 50 countries participated in the event, Brosnan underlined his class when winning the world welterweight kickboxing title.
In late 2006, he followed this up with a victory over the then senior professional world welterweight champion Jason Vassallo.A County Galway Sports Star Award winner on two occasions (2006 & 2007), Brosnan is also a noted boxer, having been crowned Irish national champion on a number of occasions.