IT has been a frustrating year for Dylan Eagleson – but the talented 20-year-old is hoping to emerge from the shadows with a bang at the upcoming Irish elite championships.
After a 2022 that saw him announce himself on the elite stage in some style, following a European silver medal with Commonwealth Games gold, the St Paul’s stylist has found opportunities for competitive action hard to come by in recent months.
There were two reasons for that – not boxing at an Olympic weight, and the stand-off with the International Boxing Association that saw Ireland drop out of several international competitions.
As a result, one bout at the National Stadium in January – claiming a first Irish elite crown – and another at the Strandja international tournament the following month have been the sum total of rounds accumulated thus far as Eagleson played the waiting game outside the ropes.
He had already decided to make the jump from 54kg to 57kg and, when Jude Gallagher didn’t claim the bantamweight spot on the Irish team bound for next year’s Paris Olympics, the door reopened for the Bangor man – and he has been putting in the hard yards since.
“I have to get the best preparation for these elites,” he said.
“I didn’t know what to do because 54 kilo boxers, we weren’t going to any tournaments. At one point in time I was just thinking ‘is there any point in me staying here and training all the time for nothing?’
“But I just put the head down. We were working on moving up, Jude was going to the qualifiers so we had to see how he did first, before we moved up.
“When I first jumped up my body wasn’t ready to jump up. I was sparring these guys, my boxing ability kept me in it, but you could just tell they were stronger and bigger. Now I’m bigger than them.
“I took two months off boxing, I wasn’t losing weight or anything, and my body just naturally developed. You’ll see in these elites, I’m a fully developed 57 now.”
What would he have done had Gallagher qualified for Paris?
“I don’t know,” he sighs, “I really don’t know.”
That is why 57kg will be the most eagerly-followed division at the Irish elites, with Eagleson’s bid to finish top of the pile getting under way against the reigning champion – Offaly’s Paul Loonam – in the opening bout of the competition on Friday night.
There are a couple of tasty bouts on the other side of the draw too, with 60kg champion Davy Joyce coming down to face Sean Purcell, while Letterkenny’s Paddy McShane faces former Irish number one Adam Hession.
Tyrone tornado Gallagher awaits the winner of Eagleson/Loonam in the semi-final on Friday, November 10, the Commonwealth Games team-mates on a potential collision course little more than a year since returning from Birmingham.
“Me and Jude are best of mates down in Dublin.
“Whatever happened [at the European Olympic qualifier], if he qualified, he qualified, fair play to him, but he didn’t, so the door’s open now.
“No matter what happens in these elites, me and Jude are still best mates. We’ll have a laugh about it after. You just have to take it for what it is.
“The reality is that whoever performs on the day is going to win. Every person at this weight is good. If anyone has a bad day, myself included, it’s not going to work out.
“But I know I’ve prepared well. I believe this is the best I’ve been boxing since the Europeans.”
And if it means curbing his naturally flamboyant style to move a step closer to realising his Olympic dream, then so be it.
“I know my style of boxing is the best international style of boxing. I’m a good counter-puncher, I can stand and trade if I need to.
“I’m keeping my shape more, I’ve really tidied my boxing up. In the elites there’s going to be no showboating – it’s all business.
“I can’t switch off for a second.”
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McCONNELL GETS CHANCE TO AVENGE DEAN WALSH DEFEAT
WITH Olympic medallist Aidan Walsh out of the Paris 2024 picture for now, Holy Trinity’s Jon McConnell gets a chance to gain revenge on Dean Walsh when the pair meet in Friday’s light-middle quarter-final.
Walsh just edged McConnell in January’s Irish final but, having failed to secure Olympic qualification at the European Games in June, the Holy Trinity man is not hot on his heels as he builds into the 71kg division.
Despite attending an IABA international camp in August, Aidan Walsh isn’t in the draw, leaving it unlikely that he will push for a place at a second Olympic Games like big sister Michaela.
However, Commonwealth Games team-mate Eugene McKeever has moved up from 67kg and will take on former Irish champion Wayne Kelly on the other side of the draw.
There is some intriguing action on Saturday too, with the real interest in the women’s 66kg division.
World champions Amy Broadhurst and Lisa O’Rourke have both been ruled out by injury, and defending champion Grainne Walsh takes on Kaci Rock for the right to face European silver medallist Christina Desmond in the November 11 final.
Michaela Walsh renews her rivalry with Kelsey Leonard at 57kg, while the door is wide open at 50kg as the race for a spot at next year’s Olympic qualifiers hots up.
Daina Moorehouse was in the box seat but missed out on qualification at the European Games, and faces the tough Niamh Early in Saturday’s 50kg semi-final. On the other side of the draw, Immaculata’s Caitlin Fryers – beaten by Moorehouse in January’s Irish final – is up against another international competitor, Shannon Sweeney.
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