Taylor Parke is March Sports Star of the Month

BY MATTHEW WILSON

Winning an All-Ireland medal of any kind is no mean feat but Taylor Parke earned the third Irish title of his young career back in March.

Taylor Parke is a member of the Raphoe Boxing Club and has enjoyed previous All-Ireland glory back in 2023.

Parke won his first Irish title in April 2023 when he defeated Calvin Stokes of Olympic BC on a 4-1 split decision.

Eight weeks later, he secured his second national crown, overcoming Sean Doran’s boxer Donnacha Beagan by the same score in the National Junior Cadet Championship Final.

His latest All-Ireland triumph came when he beat Gerard O’Looney in the Junior 1 46KG final courtesy of a second round stoppage in the bout.

Parke expressed how it was great to get the win to justify the countless hours of hard work and training he put into it.

“It felt great winning the All-Ireland because I trained and worked hard for it so it was a huge success for me. It’s great to get the reward for putting in the hard work,” said Parke, who this week picked up the Donegal News Sports Personality of the Month award for March, in conjunction with Brian McCormick Sports & Leisure.

The Glenmaquin native’s route to the final was by no means a straightforward one.

In the quarter-final, Parke met Adam Clarke from Canal BC who he beat via a 4-1 split decision before running into Nicholas O’Rourke of St Mary’s in the last four.

O’Rourke is a three-time All-Ireland champion himself and therefore it presented a tough task for the Raphoe BC boxer.

The bout with the St Mary’s member was the most difficult on his way to glory according to Parke but he got over the line following a unanimous decision from the judges.

“The Nicholas O’Rourke fight was probably the hardest one that I experienced in the tournament. The quarter-final was hard enough because I made it difficult for myself.”

“The semi-final was definitely the hardest fight but then I found the final to be easy enough.”

It’s a huge achievement for Taylor, who goes by the name of ‘The Blonde Bomber’, to have three Irish titles at the young age of 15.

There’s a lot of good work going on at the Raphoe Boxing Club and the young boxer stated that everyone at the club is a huge benefit to his progression but heaped praise on Gary McCullagh and Gerard Keaveney in particular.

‘Yeah everyone in the club is a big help especially Gary (McCullagh) and Gerard (Keaveney). They always put work into me so I couldn’t do anything without them.”

Donegal professional boxer Jason Quigley has also provided inspiration for the 15-year-old. Quigley has had a successful career at both amateur and professional level.

In the professional game, Quigley holds a 20-3 record while also possessing the NABO Middleweight and the NABF Middleweight titles at different periods.

Parke stated that the fellow Donegal boxer is a role model to him and has given him guidance which has helped.

“He’s a real role model to me, he’s the only successful Donegal boxer at professional level. He’s great and gives me a bit of guidance as well.”

The Glenmaquin boxer appears to be someone who keeps an eye on the next title that he can land.

He’s already looking ahead to the Under 18 Championships which takes place at the beginning of next year and training is commencing immediately.

As well as this he’s also hoping to link up with the national team next year. The 15-year-old previously travelled with the Irish team in 2023 for a ten-day training camp in Poland and he’s aiming for another journey with them in 2026.

“There’s the Under 18’s in January so I’ll be preparing and hoping to win them and then hopefully go abroad with the Irish team so the training starts now next Monday.”