Heaney becomes Cookstown ABC’s first boxing champion

First up was Cameron Bloomer who fought an exhibition bout. Cameron boxed very well and learned from the experience.

Nathen Swift from Cookstown ABC fought against Aodhan McNamee from Twocastles ABC. McNamee, the much taller boxer, started boxing at range with a long jab, but Swift’s pressure proved too be too much and he kept his opponent under pressure for the three rounds, making Swift a clear winner at the bell a good win in Nathen’s first competive bout.

Also fighting for the first time was Ethan McGuckin from Cookstown ABC against Twocastles boxer Taogh McNamee. Ethan controlled the fight with his good jab and landing strong hooks to the body and landed his first win.

Next into the ring was Barney Corcoran who fought a tough fight but unfortunately did not get the decision. Tiernan Toner stepped up next to fight Kealen Niccolls of Twocastles ABC Tiernan was giving away weight to his opponent but this did not deter the budding young boxer. The fight was a very close contest with a gutsy performance from Toner but unfortunately the ref raised Niccolls’s arm at the final bell.

Head Coach Chalky Kelly said, “I am very happy with all the boxers tonight, they all give a very good account of themselves.”

On Saturday 12th January, the club were out again with an early start to attend the Mid-Ulster boys/youth boxing championships. The championships were run over the two days.

In this the first season for Cookstown ABC, the club was pleased to enter eight boxers; Cameroon Bloomer, Ruari Devlin, Tiernan Heaney, Ethan McGuckin, Keelan Burns, Shae Hampshey, Nathen Swift and Barney Corcoran.

First up in the semi-finals, Cameroon Bloomer fought and won with an impressive victory putting him into the final on Sunday. Cameron had a good fight against a more experienced boxer from Omagh BC and was unfortunate not to get the decision. Ruari fought next in the semi finals and show great boxing skills using his jab well and movement. A spilt decision at the end showed how close the fight was tho didn’t go in favour of the young Cookstown lad.

Tiernan got a bye into the final. In the first round Heaney measured up his opponent scoring clean scores. Clearly outpointing his counterpart in round two, the opposition’s corner was forced to throw in the towel in the third round for Cookstown’s first champion.

Ethan McGuckin fought next in the final. Ethan had a close first round getting drawn in to a brawl in the first round. With some guidance from the corner at the end of the first McGuckin started to counterbox and picked off scores concisely in round 2 and 3 making him a clear winner of the Mid-Ulster title.

Keelan again was straight to the final where he met a more experienced boxer. Keelan show great heart and boxed very well against a stronger counterpart but although not getting the decision, Burns learned a lot in this his first fight.

The last fight saw Nathen Swift fight in the final. A very tough fight were neither fighter was willing to move onto the back foot, made for a close first two rounds. Nathen scored the cleaner shots in round number three, landing a lot of body shot and to the crowd’s delight was crowned the champion at the bell.

Barney Corcoran and Shea Hampshey, like the rest, trained hard for the championships but on the day had no opponents to which they were awarded the Mid-Ulster titles by way of walkover.

A great start to the season which is set to be a busy year for Cookstown ABC. Next on the calendar is the Tyrone/Fermanagh championships which CABC have the honour of hosting in The Dojo in Cookstown on January 26. The doors will be open to supporters from 11.30am with bouts starting at 12pm.

With CABC growing we would like to thank all our sponsors and main sponsors Mulligans Bar, Harpscreen, Performance Nutrition Plus, Bill Eastwood and LCC Oil for their continued support.