Bright future ahead as Shaun Doohan finally achieves his boxing dream

Less than a month after the violent scenes broke out during his National Boy 4 Boxing Championships fight at The Hub in Castlerea, Dunfanaghy teen Shaun Doohan stepped between the ropes and into the ring for the first time. 

A week later, his hand would be raised to announce that the Donegal man was All-Ireland champion. 

Doohan’s fight against John Murray of St Francis in Limerick in the quarter-final two weeks ago was his first taste of action since a horror experience at the start of March when he was ring-ready to face Murray in Castlebar. However, the night was abandoned when masked men stormed into the event just before the bell. 

A gang of men, some of whom were wearing ski masks and armed with machetes and bill hooks, burst into the venue in Castlerea which resulted in one man being seriously injured amid violent scenes which saw the All-Ireland U-14 competition subsequently postponed. 

A setback and a situation that no underage person should ever experience, like the one Doohan experienced that night in Roscommon, but for anyone who thought the Donegal man was going to let his guard was second-guessing when he made his return to the ring at the end of March. 

He was not stopping until he reached that ultimate success of being an All-Ireland champion. 

“It’s been a tough battle the last number of months in terms of training and preparation, we had a timeframe to peak at a certain time but obviously that was ruined a bit with what happened in Castlerea,” Doohan said. “Different things can happen to you but that was such a weird one considering you’re waiting for that moment to come for a while. 

“For me, it’s been literally just eat, sleep, and train for that night, and then with what happened, it was upsetting, but we knew we would have another shot, but it just dragged the season out and made it an even longer wait.” 

By January, the established 15-year-old boxer had his sights set on All-Ireland glory in boxing. It was his ultimate target, but before that, Doohan set out another target, rather more unique considering the circumstances, when he brought home an All-Ireland medal in indoor rowing. 

An achievement made even more impressive considering the Donegal boxer is not part of a rowing club. 

“I would do indoor rowing as part of my training. My dad started tracking the distance I was covering on the rowing machine and noticed that I was good enough to compete at All-Ireland level, so that’s how that happened,” he said. 

“I knew that using the rowing machine in the gym helps with your boxing training, so I got really into that, but it was mainly just as a training purpose. 

“My brother Anthony did the indoor rowing too as part of his boxing training and he went on to win an All-Ireland in that sport, as well as win an All-Ireland boxing too, so I kept the trend going thankfully,” he laughed. 

But Doohan’s eye was always on the boxing prize, however a cruel twist of faith would postpone his All-Ireland ambitions as he recalls that horrific night in Castlerea. 

“It was a weird feeling that night, I can’t really put it into words, to be honest. At the time, I wasn’t reading too much into it because I was so focused, but knowing now how dangerous it was, it is a weird feeling thinking back. 

“There were a lot of mixed emotions that weekend, with all that happened and knowing I had to wait longer to fight for the All-Ireland, it was messed up, but I had to get on with it and get over it pretty quickly I suppose, but at the time I didn’t know what to think. 

“I think in a way, because it happened that quick, I didn’t really understand what was going on, I was in the best place at the time by being in the ring. It was annoying but all you can do in terms of the sport is get back to training and watch my shape for another few weeks.” 

But the event didn’t impact Doohan as a fighter as he overcame Adria Kepes from St Pappins BC in Ballymun on a 4-1 split decision to capture the All-Ireland at the National Stadium after he defeated Monivea’s John Ward in Saturday's semi-final. 

“I would’ve been nervous enough but mainly just the usual nerves that everyone has before a big fight. The first two days I was in the first fight, so whatever nerves I had, I had to get over them pretty quickly, but that helps too because you get the fights over and done with early doors,” he said. 

“I would’ve felt before going to the judges scores that I had won all the fights. I was quite confident about that, I didn’t do anything different in those fights, I just stuck to what I knew best and stayed to my strengths, and it thankfully worked out for me. 

“In the final, I tried to not allow the fact that it was an All-Ireland fight play into my mind too much, otherwise you could freeze, it was about keeping the head cool. It was just a relief really when my hand was raised, I was just thankful that all the years of hard work finally paid off.”