Erne Boxing Club’s Rhys Owens will take on Jason Nevin on Friday night for a place in the National Elite Championship final.

Owens was in fine form last weekend as he saw off Star Boxing Club’s Lee McKee in the preliminary round and then Adam Courtney of St. Mary’s Boxing Club in the quarter finals to secure his place in the last four in the Lightweight division.

There was to be disappointment though for Owens’ club mate Anthony Melanaphy, who went down to Irish number-one and reigning champion Brandon McCarthy in the Light Welterweight quarter finals.

Erne Boxing Club Head Coach, Sean Crowley, explained that the fact that they had boxers competing at this level was historic for the club.

“This was the first time in the 15-year history of the club that we have had boxers enter the National Elite Championships, and to make the challenge even more notably difficult, it is the start of the next Olympic cycle, so the National Elite Championships – and this competition – are the ones that are going to be considered for Team Ireland selection for Olympic qualification for Paris 2024,” he said.

Rhys Owens was drawn into a preliminary round and was first into action on Friday.

He was drawn against Lee McKee and it was a chance for Owens to put right the wrongs from the Ulster Elite Championships.

Back in December, Owens was beaten controversially on a split decision in the Ulster Elite semi-finals, and his opponent went on to lose to McKee in the final.

It was therefore an opportunity for Rhys and his coaches to prove that he was the best boxer in Ulster this year, and he certainly proved that in the stadium at the weekend.

He out-boxed McKee in all three rounds; he out-smarted and out-punched him, and just tactically was too astute as he ran out a clear unanimous points winner.

Owens was back in action the next night in the quarter finals against Adam Courtney from St. Mary’s Boxing Club in Dublin.

“Courtney comes from the same club as Olympic champion Kellie Harrington, so we knew the opponent was going to be of a high calibre and well prepared. Courtney is a very experienced campaigner who has been involved in Elite Championships several times before reaching the final once,” said Crowley.

However, Owens tore up the form book and put on a real masterclass. He had a couple of patchy moments, but on the whole he out-punched and out-smarted his opponent, keeping the contest at long-range and picking his opponent off. He then used good counter-punching tactics on the move to register a clear unanimous points win to seal his place in the last four.

“Rhys’ performances at the weekend were very impressive and Ireland’s High Performance Coaching staff were watching the action at the weekend, and were impressed.

“They asked several questions about him afterwards, so he has obviously made a very positive impression on them,” added Crowley.

“Our hope is that Rhys carries that performance into this weekend. In the semi-final on Friday night he meets Jason Nevin – a six-time National champion, and one of Ireland’s up and coming young boxers, so it will be a tough test, but one that Rhys is more than capable of coming through on current form and making the final.

“If he reaches the final, Rhys will likely come up against a former National Elite champion in Davy Joyce, so he faces two very, very tough matches in order to become a National Elite champion, but on current form he is going to give it a really good go and is very capable of pulling it off.”

Melanaphy was also in action on the Saturday night, having got the worst possible draw when he was pitted against the Irish number-one, Brandon McCarthy, from St. Michael’s Boxing Club, Athy, who is also the reigning champion and a former European champion at Youth and U-22 level.

Unfortunately, Melanaphy was a bit nervous and gave his opponent a bit too much respect as he made a tentative start. McCarthy on the other hand settled straight away, and won the first round clearly.

The Erne boxer warmed into the contest in the second round but McCarthy is a quality operator and just landed with the better punches to take the second session.

In the final round, Melanaphy tried his best, and it was a much closer round, but again McCarthy had the edge and went on to win a unanimous points decision.

Crowley says that the club are very proud of the two boxers, who he feels have really put the club on the map.

“The club are extremely proud of Anthony and Rhys for their efforts last weekend. They did themselves, the club and the people of Fermanagh proud.

“They have got clubs and coaching staff down in Dublin talking about us, and we are no longer considered a small club from Fermanagh – we are now considered a club capable of producing boxers of the highest possible standard.

“Those two lads have raised the profile of the club significantly, and are both great ambassadors for us.

“Hopefully, Rhys can go all the way now, and that would just be the icing on the cake,” he added.

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