As the boxing season draws nearer to a close it’s been somewhat of a late Gold rush for the Erne Boxing Club with a Gold medal won by Rhys Owens at the prestigious Haringey International Box Cup in London last month and more recently with a brace of Gold medals won by the girls squad at the Monkstown International Box Cup in Dublin last weekend.

Rhys Owens scored a hat-trick of good victories in London on route to winning Gold at the Lightweight 60kgs Elite class turning back the challenges of Sweden’s Hadi Hadrous, Belfast’s Rory Lavery (a former multiple National titleist and Ulster Elite champion) and Londoner Dettori Brown (Hoddesdon Boxing Academy) all by clear points decisions.

Clubmate Anthony Malanaphy boxing in the Light-Welterweight 63.5kgs Elite class also had good success defeating London’s former pro boxer Marley Mason (Dagenham ABC) in the quarter-final before dropping a points decision to this year’s English National Elite champion and eventual Gold medallist Louie O’Doherty (Halstead & Essex Uni BC) in the semi-final.

Following on from Haringey success, the Erne outfit had a team of four girls competing in the Monkstown International Box Cup in Dublin. Star of the team was Katie Rasdale who won a battle of current Irish champions against Ava Lannon (Dungarvan BC) in the 72kg Schoolgirls final. Rasdale boxed smartly and outfoxed Lannon in a tactical battle to claim a points win in a close contest.

Amy Nolan boxed extremely well and claimed gold after two good performances against Irish representative Ava Henry (Docklands BC) and Germany’s Mariela Steko in the Youth 60kgs class. Whilst there was a third Gold won, it came in disappointing circumstances as Caoilfhionn Crowley took the honours in the Junior 67kgs class uncontested as her opponent Rachel O’Connor (Tredagh BC) withdrew from the final due to illness handing her victory by way of walkover.

The Erne’s fourth entrant was Aoibhe O’Reilly who was beaten on points by National champion Daisy Kiernans (Dealgan Boxing Club) after putting up a very spirited display in the Schoolgirl 36kgs semi-final.

“Rhys Owens capped a fine season with three polished performances in London adding to his HSK Box Cup (Denmark), King of the Ring (Sweden) and Ulster Senior gold medals in what has been an exceptional first season for him at Elite level.

"Anthony Malanaphy after a six-year hiatus has also done exceptionally well this season with HSK Box Cup Gold, Ulster Elite Silver, Enidhoven Box Cup Bronze and another semi-final berth in London. Likewise, its his first year competing at Elite level and to do it following such a long layoff is very credible,” remarked Erne Boxing Club Head Coach Sean Crowley.

The Erne Boxing Club has always championed female participation in boxing and Katie Rasdale is their latest female National champion following the line success of former National champions Lauren Crawford, Kaci Crowley (three National Titles) and Joanna Czerwinska.

“Katie was in a real 50/50 contest against this season’s 70kg National Champion but weighed in lighter than her opponent in Monkstown so had no physical advantages going into the contest. She was a worthy winner and has really grown in stature and is now a bright prospect for success at international level in the near future, " added Crowley.

The club advise that they should now be enjoying their summer break but the rest period for coaches is currently on hold as Caoilfhionn Crowley, buoyed by her Monkstown success, and the vastly improving Oisin Gilheaney are targeting the National Junior (Senior Cadet) Championships this month.

Both will be competing in the National Stadium in Dublin over the coming weeks where in addition to possibly claiming a national title there’s potential selection for the European Championships in Italy this summer also on the line.

“Caoilfhionn, due to her long absence (having not boxed since prior to the Covid outbreak in March 2020), and due to Oisin’s lack of experience, will both start rank outsiders, but both are working extremely hard in the gym and are great competitors so both have a chance of pulling off an upset or two," surmised Crowley.