Donegal boxing fans have been left disappointed with the news that tonight’s National Elite finals will not be on TV.
Darryl Moran and Brett McGinty are lining up on what is the biggest night of the year for Irish boxing, but the blackout will leave many unable to see the fights.
In recent years, both RTÉ and TG4 have shown finals nights live from the National Stadium on Dublin’s South Circular Road, but tonight’s card has drawn a blank from the broadcasters..
Fans will still be able to access the bouts, via Facebook pages such as Irish Boxers, who will be streaming coverage from the Stadium, but the TV deal had been a big draw for sporting fans.
In the welterweight final, Brett McGinty, a St Johnston man fighting for Oakleaf ABC in Derry, takes on Wexford’s Dean Walsh. McGinty has won eight Irish titles, but the 18-year-old is in Elite action for the first time this year.
Walsh has won three Elite titles before, but at light-welter.
McGinty said: “Dean Walsh is a top boxer, safe to say he’s got youth behind him as well, but at the same time he’s got international experience at Senior level. That doesn’t phase me, I can honestly say that doesn’t phase me in the slightest.”
In the light-flyweight final, Darryl Moran of the Illies Golden Gloves tackles Derryman Blaine Dobbins in a fight that will have the fireworks crackling.
Moran, already a nine-time Irish champion, goes in search of his first Elite crown when he faces Derryman Dobbins.
Moran said: “There will always be nerves going into any fight but all the hard training is done and hopefully I get the win and book my place as number one.”
Carrigart woman Maeve McCarron is guaranteed the women’s cruiserweight crown having been the sole entrant.
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