Irish champion Dervan edges out classy Mayo opponent

THE fans at Loughrea Boxing Club had their first chance to celebrate Ryan Dervan’s double win at national level, when the club held its annual tournament at the Temperance Hall last week. They certainly had a bout to savour, as Dervan’s opponent was Martin Conroy of Ballyhaunis, the World Junior bronze medallist.

It proved to be a taut, tough battle. Dervan opened with menace, closing his opponent to the ropes, and delivering a series of rasping punches to the body. Conroy showed his own credentials with an array of punches, as he fought his way back into it. The template for the contest was set.

Dervan, the main aggressor, switched to body punching effectively, whenever Conroy’s defence might have stymied him, while Conroy had a strong array of punches to keep the contest boiling. In the end, it was Dervan’s hand that was raised in triumph by the referee. A tight but deserving winner.

Kenneth Cooney (L/rea, Junior1 50kg) tried his best to make this a memorable night in his bout with Conor Madden (St Francis), as both boxers committed fully to a storming opening. Neither gave ground throughout the first, a nice left shot to the head by Cooney probably being the pick of the punches landed.

Again in the second, Cooney landed a beautiful left, bypassing Madden’s defences. Both contestants contributed mightily to a final round, which saw punches swopped with great frequency. Cooney took the decision on a majority verdict.

Oisin McNally (L/rea: J1 57kg) put in a fine performance, while dominating the ring, against Dylan Flanagan of Tobar Pheadair. The judges were unanimous in awarding the fight to McNally.

Conor Feeney (L/rea) and Ger Moore (St Francis), at Novice:71kg, brought the crowd to their feet with their mixture of courage, mobility and strength. It was symptomatic of the bout that both took counts during the earlier rounds, but fought back to establish footholds in the fight again. Moore took a majority verdict.

The evening had opened with a lively contest between Owen Griffin of Loughrea and Mark Johnson of Emerald, (Boy1:39kg). The advantage swung from one boxer to another in a well contested bout, but Griffin was adjudged the winner, unanimously.

Brian Treacy (L/rea, B1:52kg) and Byron Fagan (Emerald) followed into the ring. Treacy worked his left well, while Fagan tried manfully to put a series of punches together, which would upset Treacy’s rhythm. Treacy ran out the winner.

For more, read this week's Connacht Tribune.