Paddy McShane sharpens up in spar with Olympic champion Harrington

Letterkenny boxer Paddy McShane punched in ten rounds of sparring with Olympic gold medalist Kellie Harrington this week.

McShane, the Irish flyweight champion, is training with the IABA’s High Performance Unit in Dublin with the Irish squad, including Harrington.

“It was great work,” McShane told Donegal Live.

“It was brilliant to get that experience, ten rounds with Kellie. She’s some boxer.

“It’s definitely great to get into the ring with someone like Kellie. She’s one of the most decorated boxers we have in the Irish team. It’s priceless to get advice from someone like her and the experience makes the travel worthwhile.”

In August, Harrington defeated Beatriz Ferreira in the women’s lightweight final at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. Her win at the Kokugikan Arena saw her emulate Michael Carruth and Katie Taylor in returning boxing gold for Ireland.

McShane said: “She’s one of a kind, Kellie, but I just had to more or less treat that like a normal spar. This is where I am now and if I’m thinking anything else I’d get battered.

“Being up with the high performance team has been a great learning experience for me. The challenge is to stay at this level now and keep getting better, I can feel myself bigger, stroger and more mature.”

A superb debut year at elite level in 2021 saw McShane win the Irish flyweight crown, beating Padraig Downey in the final in October. That win saw him elevated to the HPU and a training camp with the Irish team in Sheffield followed.

Injury prevented his participation in the Golden Gong Tournament in Skopje, North Macedonia in November, but McShane is sharpening the tools as he anticipates action in the Irish vest across the coming months.