An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir October 2017 www.dfmagazine.ie 30 | By CPL LEE COyLE - PhOTOS CPL COLIn DELAny B oxing is a long-standing and proud tradition throughout the Defence Forces. national and International Champions have entered the ring as serving soldiers, with the likes of Phil Sutcliffe, Tony DeLoughrey and most notable of all Michael Carruth, who won a gold Medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. In the years proceeding these great boxers though, the num- ber of serving soldiers either taking up the sport or having a history in it has fallen, this may be due to the popularity of other sports like MMA/UFC or it could even be due to the responsibili- ties most units and each soldier have in this climate and time not being available to them. The last few years though, have seen the sport go through a renaissance and resurgence, a revival if you will to take up this challenging sport. It is a sport that requires patience, fitness and discipline, and has always fit well with the ethos of Óglaigh na hÉireann. The 2017 Defence Forces Boxing Championships took place in Cathal Brugha Bks on the 9th to the 11th August 2017. This year's event was organised by Cpl Paddy Daly, Sgt Damien Flood, Cpl Thomas Murphy and Cpl John Molloy, who are all members of the 7 Inf Bn. There was good number of entries that came in from across the country with a total of 40 plus fighters; this also included four members of the An Garda Síochána. From this number there were a total of 16 finals. Unfortunately some fighters didn't get the chance to fight, as they were in a class and weight on their own, but there were still enough bouts to keep the crowd happy. Fighters had a mix of different levels from novices to seasoned senior competitors, also in the mix was a European finalist Pte Geoffrey Kavanagh from the 7 Inf Bn. The atmosphere inside in the hall was contagious with a lot of adrenaline trapped inside the room, and the crowd getting swept up with most of the matches. It was good to see that boxing still draws a big crowd. I think that is due to the rawness of the sport and its ability to bring us in touch with our more animalistic side. The spectators were getting into the matches with them shouting support and cheering fighters on, with the rivalry between units adding extra fuel to the fire. We spoke with Cpl Paddy Daly, who firstly told us how the organisation of the event went, "We had some great help organising the event and everything has gone smoothly. The first day was the busiest, most of the hard work was done with the weigh-ins' and the sorting out of the matches". He added, "We had a very good turn out from the whole De- fence Forces and this is the first time the Gardai have taking part. It's good to see they have the passion for the sport too. We also have two female contenders taking part." We also spoke with Sgt Damien Flood who has been boxing over 32 years since he was 11 years of age. He is now 43 and still has a passion and great knowledge of the sport. He told us, "The popularity of the sport has been knocked back a bit for a number of reasons, but we are going to try and revive this long standing tradition. We have a few ideas on how to do this" He told us to help revive it they plan on holding a blue light services event, that will hopefully be ran in February next year and will include all blue light emergency services like the Gardai, fire service, DF and prison service. They also want to try and set up matches with colleges and other places to try and keep the sport alive. If this works out it is hoped that they will hold summer camps across the DF to help increase the popularity of the sport and help fighters get some coaching and tips. Cpl Paddy Daly is a coach at St Bernadettes Boxing Club, Santry and Sgt Damien Flood is a coach in Cabra Boxing Club. All competitors gave there all in each and every match, which made for some very entertaining fights. They are to be commend- ed for their efforts even in defeat, as they did their units proud and also the DF. A well-deserved congratulation to all involved in the organising of this great event that went off very well and shows that the team spirit of the DF is alive and kicking.

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