Train With Paul O' Connel

This year Powerade are running an Alpine Marathon Challenge, where 3 amateur athletes are training for and competing in the highest high altitude marathon in the Swiss Alps this July. Their story is being told in a series of TV ads and through the website: www.nevergiveup.ie . To go along with the campaign, and in an attempt to help like minded individuals, we have created a training programme with Paul O'Connell. Visitors to the site can sign up to the programme to receive regular training advice from Paul via email, text and voicemail. The content has been provided by Paul and other top training experts, whom are supporting our trio as they take on their epic challenge this summer .

To sign up now visit: www.nevergiveup.ie/trainwithpaul

Ireland's Amateurs Score 9 Medals At EU Championships

Photo Courtesy of AIBA


Ireland's amateur boxing scene continued it's success with all 9 members of the squad winning medals at the EU Championships in Odenske, Denmark.

The final tally from the Irish team was :

David Oliver Joyce - Gold
Darren O' Neill - Gold
Con Sheehan - Gold
John Joe Nevin - Silver
Willie McLaughlin - Silver
Declan Geraghty - Silver
Kenny Egan - Bronze
Eric Donovan - Bronze
Philip Sutcliffe - Bronze

The squad was also named "Team of the Championship" after their fantastic performances at the yearly tournament which was represented by 20 countries.

Irish boxers have claimed in total 11 gold, 10 silver and 7 bronze medals at European Union Championships level since the inaugural tournament in Strasbourg, France in 2003.

Spotlight On Judging And Refereeing At British And Commonwealth Title Fights

The subject of poor refereeing and suspect decisions when Irish boxers are involved in British and Commonwealth title fights has become very controversial over the past month or so.
The recent antics of referee Dave Parris during the May 15th fight between Ireland's Martin Rogan and Englishman Sam Sexton, have brought to a lot of peoples attention the obvious bending of or sheer ignorance of the rules by some referees in such fights.

If the Rogan V Sexton calamity was not enough reason to believe that there is something off about proceedings in these fights, let's take a look at the case of Belfast's super featherweight and stablemate of Rogan, Kevin O' Hara, who was last night expressing his frustration at the judges scoring of his Commonwealth title challenge against Scotland's Ricky Burns.
Burns won the fight in my opinion but only by 1 or 2 rounds at best. During the fight O' Hara was deducted a point for dangerous use of the head which was a bit extreme, especially as Burns himself was leaning in with his head which was not even admonished by the referee. Burns was also holding way too much during the fight which again, was ignored.

However, it was not so much the referee's performance in this fight which comes under scrutiny but more the judges scoring of the fight. In a bout where most rounds were very close - and with most people at ringside, and even the commentators believing that Burns had just shaded it by 1 or maybe 2 rounds, with some of the opinion that O' Hara had actually done enough to win the title - the three judges, Howard John Foster, Victor Loughlin, and of course, Dave Parris, respectively scored the fight : 113-115, 111-116, and 110-117!

It is occurrences like these which discredit the very titles themselves. A few questions I would like to ask the BBBof C - how can anybody take these fights seriously? How can anyone look at a boxer such as Sam Sexton and see him as a credible Commonwealth champion considering how he came about the title? And more importantly, when are we going to see some consistency and impartiality in these fights?

These questions lead me to do a little research on the subject. Looking back through the records from the last 20 years or so, it is clear to see that when an Irishman challenges for a British or Commonwealth title, there is only one way the British boxer loses, and that is by stoppage.
I struggled to find one example where an Irish boy won a points decision in one of these fights ( and this is NOT a testament to the British boxers superior skills!).
So basically every time an Irish boxer has won one of these titles since 1986 (I'm sure there are many more examples before this time frame) they needed a KO to do it!

Examples include :

British Title

1986 - Dave Boy McCauley wins by TKO over Joe Kelly

2001 - Neil Sinclair wins by TKO over Harry Dhami

2008 - Paul McCloskey wins by TKO over Colin Lynes

2008 - Brian Magee wins by KO over Stevie Maguire

2009 - Martin Lyndsay wins by TKO over Paul Appleby


Commonwealth Title :

1992 - Eamonn Loughran wins by TKO over Donavan Boucher

1995 - Noel Magee wins by TKO over Garry Delaney

1997 - Darren Corbett wins by TKO over Chris Okoh

1998 - Eamonn Magee loses a controversial points decision to Lancashire's Paul Burke. A year later Magee beats Burke by TKO in the rematch.

2009 - Martin Rogan wins by TKO over Matt Skelton

The only exception to the rule being when Damaen Kelly won a points decision to Anthony Hanna for the British title in 1999, in this case, no amount of home cooking could sway the fight for Hanna who came into the fight with a 16-25-2 record!

So the question is, after studying all the evidence, is this simply coincidence? Or are the Irish consistently being shafted by the powers that be of the BBBofC?

Irish Boxing Events : June 19th - An Evening With Steve Collins & Nigel Benn

An Evening with Nigel Benn & Steve Collins

Date : Friday 19th June

Venue : Canal Court Hotel, Newry

Details : Doors open 7.00pm for 8.00pm start
Tickets : £30, VIP £60 & VIP Table of 10 £500

Availble from www.ice-promotions.com or call 07708650419

Disgraceful Refereeing Costs Rogan Commonwealth Title

Martin Rogan lost his commonwealth title tonight due in no small part to the awful refereeing of Dave Parris. Rogie was making the first defense of the title against Prizefighter II winner, Sam Sexton, in front of a capacity crowd in the Odyssey Arena in Belfast.
Sexton was making things difficult for Rogan throughout the contest with a stinging jab and some good right hands that soon had Rogan's left eye swollen and close to closing up. Rogie for his part was putting up a good fight against the younger man and looked to be hurting Sexton more than he was being hurt himself.
Referee Dave Parris continually gave unfair advantage to Sexton throughout the fight, he allowed Sexton to spoil every time Rogan got in close, in the 8th round (Rogan was probably going to be pulled out after this round due to the eye swelling) Rogan came out all guns blazing and had Sexton on the ropes, badly hurt, Sexton then turns his back to Rogan -which in my view should have been the end of the fight - but instead Parris saw fit to give Sexton a few seconds to recover by admonishing Rogan for hitting to the back of Sexton's head!
When the fight resumed, Rogan continued his attack and has Sexton out on his feet, then in a bizarre twist, either Rogan's punches caused Sexton's gumshield to come out or Sexton himself spit it out, Sexton points to his gumshield on the canvas, Rogan apparently stops so the referee can call a time out for Sexton to put his gum shield back in (Rogie should have went in for the kill here but sportsmanship or maybe inexperience stopped him from doing that), so Sexton takes this opportunity to catch Rogan with 3 punches while Rogan has his hands down. The referee then calls a time out for Sexton to put the gum shield back in, giving him another chance to compose himself when just seconds before a ko defeat looked imminent.
The fight resumes only for Dave Parris, for some strange reason, deciding that with 20 seconds to go in the round, and with Rogan looking close to stopping Sexton to retain his title, that it is the right time to call the doctor to look at Rogan's eye!
The fight was then stopped by the doctor who deemed Rogan unfit to continue.
In my opinion, this was one of the most bizarre and unprofessional refereeing I have seen in a long time and I will say without hesitation that in my view, Dave Parris cost Martin Rogan his commonwealth title.
Sexton seemed uninterested in a rematch in the post fight interview but in the interest of fairness Martin Rogan must be granted a rematch and maybe this time the BBBofC will ensure that there is a competant referee overseeing the fight.