Last week, Cork County Boxing Committee launched and announced the promotion of the Cork Boxer of the Month Award.
The Board was delighted to secure a new sponsor for the award, which recognizes a cork boxer each month.
Body Mechanics Health and Fitness, one of Cork’s leading gyms in Douglas, will be going the extra mile to work with the board to continue promoting the sport in Leaside.
The awards are awarded monthly and at the end of the year each winner attends the Cork Boxing Breakfast where the overall winner for the year is announced.
Cian O’Brien, co-owner of Body Mechanics, is delighted to be involved in the sport.
“I am happy to be a part of this promotion.
“Boxing in Cork is currently at the crest of a wave and the very good results at national level over recent years suggest to us that amateur boxing is very deserving of our support.
“We hope this monthly award will continue to encourage boxers who aspire to win Cork’s Boxer of the Month award.”
The inaugural Cork Boxer of the Month Award for January was recently awarded to Middleton boxer Kuba Pires.
This followed his impressive victory over Danny Lucey (Rylane BC) at the recent Olympic Festival of Cork Boxing.
This was the final match of an epic two-day boxing match.
Both boxers showed top-notch boxing in the senior 63kg match.
It was action from the first bell. The pace was relentless, with the first wave swinging in either direction after each round.
In an atmosphere reminiscent of the halcyon days of Cork boxing, the crowd was on its feet as rival supporters cheered on the boxers.
This very even match was a great advertisement for senior amateur boxing in Cork.
Here, two extremely prepared and extremely fit athletes displayed all the finer points of Nobel art in their quest for victory.
The gladiators of the Colosseum of old would have recognized this as the very spirit of Olympic boxing.
After the final bell rang, many neutrals in the packed auditorium were unable to determine who had won because the contest was so close.
To everyone’s surprise, the host announced it was a split decision, with Kuba from the Middleton club being declared the winner by a close margin.
Many claim this was one of the best matches seen in Cork for many years.
Cork Boxing supporters will once again have the opportunity to watch a rematch of this match.
This will be held as part of the Rylane Boxing Tournament which will be held at the Rochestown Park Hotel on Saturday 16th March next year.
Following his success defeating Rylane BC standout Danny Lucey, Kuba was announced as January’s first recipient.
The presentation to Mr Kuba was made by Cian O’Brien on behalf of Body Mechanics.
Kuba was accompanied by Middleton Boxing Club coach Billy O’Sullivan.
The club was recently widely praised in this column following an excellent club tournament held at the Middleton GAA Pavilion.
Billy O’Sullivan said: “The club is pleased with the recent tournaments and there is a possibility of holding further tournaments later this year.”
He also expressed his joy following the boxers’ success at the recent Olympic Games.
Continuing the Olympic theme elsewhere, Glen BC became the first sporting body in the country to fly the Olympic flag to commemorate Ireland’s 100th anniversary of Olympic participation.
Last week, Irishman Kenny Egan, silver medalist at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, announced that the Dublin St. Patrick’s Day Organizing Committee had agreed to add a float to the international parade to mark 100 years of Irish boxing. I was happy to hear that.
Meanwhile, many other events are being planned in Cork to celebrate the success of Olympians over the century.
The boxing wall at Bishop Lucy Park proudly displays Olympic shields depicting Cork’s Olympic representatives over the years.
A photo of that plaque is featured on this page today. Bishop Lucy Park is currently undergoing renovations.
This work is expected to be completed by June 2025. Everyone at Cork Boxing is looking forward to having the new boxing wall installed when the park reopens.
Last weekend saw the Cork County Boxing Championships held.
This was a three day event where all fans of the sport enjoyed high standard boxing.
This year, the Board saw record numbers of entries for these championships, which perfectly confirms the continued growth of Cork boxing.
Cork County Board would like to thank all those who took part over the three days and thank all the clubs, coaches and boxers who contributed to making the 2024 Cork County Boxing Championships a great success.