BY CHRIS MCNULTY
A PLACE in the Irish senior heavyweight final is at stake for Letterkenny man Stephen McMonagle on Saturday night when he takes on Athlone’s Kenneth Okungbowa in a semi-final.
McMonagle boxes out of the famous Holy Trinity club in Belfast and last weekend defeated Andrew Hanley of Bray. The referee stopped the contest in the third and final round after Hanley sustained a cut in an accidental clash of heads. When the scores were totted, McMonagle was declared the victor.
For his trouble, Okungbowa overcame Portlaoise man Bernard O’Reilly on a unanimous decision in his quarter-final.
The other semi-final sees 2012 Olympic captain Darren O’Neill – who has moved up to heavyweight recently – face John Joe McDonagh (Crumlin). Paulstown man O’Neill has had the upper hand on Donegal men like Jason Quigley and Steven O’Reilly in previous versions of the senior championships and could meet McMonagle in next week’s final should they both advance.
McMonagle is the current Ulster heavyweight champion after his win over Thomas Copeland.
His brother Cathal is a five-time Irish champion at super-heavyweight.
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