Brett McGinty is through to the Irish Elite welterweight final – thanks to a brilliant win over Dubliner Peter Carr in tonight’s semi-final.
The Oakleaf ABC man, just five months after turning 18, has advanced to his first Elite Championship final, where he will meet Dean Walsh in next Friday night’s final at the National Stadium.
The unanimous decision verdict – three of the judges giving it 29-28 for him and the other two with more emphatic 30-27 cards in his favour – was no more than he deserved after a stirring three stanzas.
There was a reminder here of a boxer really on the rise as McGinty demonstrated just why he’s tipped for big things in the squared circle.
[adrotate group=”46″]Carr perhaps had a slight edge in the opening verse, the Crumlin man emerging with guns drawn and ready for war, landing a couple of heavy right paws to draw first blood.
But there could be no doubt about the end result as McGinty got to work and Carr was rocked when McGinty penned him into a neutral corner to land a blistering right and the final three rounds belonged to the St Johnston man.
“I was very happy in the last two rounds,” McGinty said.
“It was a tough fight, a lot of toe-to-toe stuff. It was a solid performance and one of my better ones.
“I have more to improve on, but it’s great to get the win. It was tough, but I’m doing everything right.
Peter Carr came to fight. He came to win, but thankfully I came out on top. It gives me a lot of confidence. That’s two wins now in two weels.”
Carr dispatched Nathan Watson via a convincing performance last weekend while McGinty was surprisingly given a split decision against Ross Boyle in a contest he seemed to have bossed from the off.
‘A win’s a win,’ had been McGinty’s mantra all through the week and was well aware that he needed to up his ante.
That he did and it was a more composed McGinty that stepped through the ropes here to give a mature performance that belied his tender years.
It was one of the bouts of the night and puts McGinty – an eight-time Irish champion from his schoolboys and youth days – into his first Elite final and to within nine minutes of entering the pantheon of great names as he gets set to joust with Dean Walsh.
Wexford man Walsh – who last weekend accounted for Dungloe’s Mark McCole in a quarter-final – booked his place in Friday’s final thanks to a unanimous win over Omagh’s Tiernan Bradley last night.
Walsh – a nephew of former IABA Head Coach Billy – is a two-time Elite champion, but won both his crowns as a light-welterweight and has since stepped up in weight.
Illies Golden Gloves light-fly Darryl Moran will meet St Joseph’s Derry puncher Blaine Dobbins in Friday night’s 49kgs final. Dobbins last night edged Connor Jordan from St Aidan’s on a split decision to book a spot against Moran, who received a bye into the decider.
Letterkenny Institute of Technology student Saidhbh Greene (St Brigid’s, Edenderry) lost out in a 64kgs semi last night against Dealgan’s Emma Agnew.
Former Raphoe ABC boxer Caroline Connolly will be in action in the women’s light-heavyweight final on Friday.
Now back with her native Mourne Golden Gloves in Strabane, Connolly faces Crumlin’s Leona Houlihan.
Carrigart woman Maeve McCarron is already assured of a title, by way of a walkover win at 81+kgs that means she is Donegal’s first female senior elite champion.
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