Rousing win for Cathal McLaughlin as Raphoe Boxing Club marks 35th anniversary

Cathal McLaughlin raised the cheers of the natives with a rousing win as Raphoe Boxing Club celebrated its 35th anniversary with a bumper tournament on Sunday evening.

A capacity crowd packed into the sports hall at Deele College to see McLaughlin get the better of Cody Lee Peoples.

Raphoe BC middleweight McLaughlin was given a unanimous decision; a verdict that was in keeping with the nine minutes of action between the ropes.

This dance, between the beaten Irish Elite middleweight semi-finalists served as something as a prelude.

On Saturday night, the pair will meet again under the lights at the Aura Leisure Complex in Letterkenny on the Rumble In The Hills card.

Classy McLaughlin was the cleaner and sharper for much of the bout. Peoples kept McLaughlin honest to the last, but the volume of shots was greater from the Strabane native.

Last month, McLaughlin defied the odds to defeat Irish U22 champion TJ King to win his first Irish Senior title. McLaughlin cut a swathe through those Championships to have his hand raised at the National Stadium for the first time.

At the Elite Championships, McLaughlin was beaten by eventual middleweight champion Joshua Olaniyan from Jobstown in a semi-final while Peoples lost out to Christopher O’Reilly at the penultimate hurdle.

Bishop Kelly’s Patrick Meenan defeated Raphoe BC man Danny Doherty in a real war. Crimson dripped from Keenan’s nose at the end of the second verse, but came out strong in the third to assert his worth on proceedings.

Twin Towns’ Joey O’Hora bagged a unanimous decision against Raphoe’s Ryan Doherty in a blistering bout.

Raphoe lightweight David Tennyson - who won gold at the HSK Box Cup in Hillerød, Denmark earlier this year - was edged by Omagh’s Sean Duke on a slender 2-1 split decision.

Jack McElroy gave the home crowd another win to cheer and wasted little time in doing so. McElroy smelled blood early against Blake Hunt. A flurry of blows from McElroy rocked Hunt and the bout was stopped before the first round came to its end.

Twenty-four hours after winning the Irish Elite bantamweight title, Danny Duffy - Raphoe’s first Elite kingpin since Danny Ryan collected the middleweight strap in 1993 - was introduced to his home crowd. There, too, was Jude Gallagher, the Two Castles featherweight whose Olympic qualification hopes took a real boost when  beating Adam Hession on Saturday night.

Gallagher was in the corner for his club-mate Daithi McNamee, a three-time Irish champion. McNamee defeated Raphoe BC’s ‘Blonde Bomber’ Taylor Parke in a lively affair. McNamee was given the unanimous verdict from the judges against Parke, the Glenmaquin teen who has bagged a pair of Irish titles this year.

Eamonn Coyle, the 1982 Irish super heavyweight champion, was among an audience that also included World middleweight title challenger Jason Quigley.

The evening began with exhibition bouts featuring some of the next generation of local talent who’ll hope to emulate those who have paved the way in the last 35 years.

Raphoe’s Tyler Keaveney, the Ulster Boy 1 37kg titlist, got the competitive action underway with a victory over St Bridget’s Rowan Doherty.

Raphoe BC - 35th anniversary tournament

Cathal McLaughlin (Raphoe) beat Cody Lee Peoples (Flow) 3-0
Danny Doherty (Raphoe) lost to Patrick Meenan (Bishop Kelly) 0-3
Ryan McDaid (Raphoe) lost to Joey O’Hora (Twin Towns) 0-3
Jack McElroy beat (Raphoe) beat Blake Hunt (Flow) RSC 1
Gary McNamara (Raphoe) lost to Tiernan Donnelly (Bishop Kelly) RSC 2
David Tennyson (Raphoe) lost to Sean Duke (Dukes, Omagh) 1-2
Taylor Parke (Raphoe) lost to Daithi McNamee (Two Castles) 0-3
Tyler Keaveney (Raphoe) beat Rowan Doherty (St Bridget’s) 3-0
Exhibition: Tiernan Conwell (Raphoe) v Bernie Stokes (Oakleaf)
Exhibition: Rian Patton (Raphoe) v Ronan McBrearty (Two Castles)
Exhibition: LJ O’Neill (Raphoe) v Darragh McGonigle (St Bridget’s)
Exhibition: Riley McCullagh (Raphoe) v Odhran McConnell (Raphoe)
Exhibition: Hannah Lee Peoples (Raphoe) v Aine Quinn (St John’s)
Ulster 9 County 63kgs final: Shane Kennedy (Golden Star) lost to Charlie McKeague (St John’s) 0-3