By Aidan O’Donnell
DONEGAL’S hottest boxing prospect, Jason Quigley, will hope to make another significant step in his climb up the boxing ladder when he faces Roy Sheahan in the middleweight final at the National Elite Senior Boxing Championships in Dublin tonight.
The reigning European Under-23 champion will be competing in his third final and enters the showdown against the St. Michael’s Athy boxer, a former champion, high on confidence.
The Finn Valley ABC starlet has come through two extremely difficult clashes en route to the final, defeating London 2012 Olympian Darren O’Neill in the last-eight and overcoming Holy Trinity’s Conrad Cummings in last week’s semi-final, having entered the final round one point behind.
He slipped further off the pace after a public warning for punching his opponent on the back of the head while he was on the ropes, but he surged back with an awesome flurry of combination punching to secure his place in a third Elite final with a 17-14 decision.
O’Neill got the better of Quigley in his previous two final appearances in 2010 and 2011 but the Finn Valley man is arguably a more mature fighter now and, having banished those demons, will feel this is his time to shine.
Sheahan is no mug, though, and while many are tipping the Donegal man for glory, the experience of his opponent cannot be overlooked.
The Kildare fighter, who overcame Derry’s Conor Coyle in last week’s semi-final, is a three-time Elite champion and the 2007 European Union champion so will be hoping to silence the young pretender.
MCLAUGHLIN EYES SECOND TITLE
And while Quigley goes in search of his maiden Elite title, fellow Donegal man William McLaughlin has his sights firmly set on landing his second, in what will be his third final appearance at welterweight.
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