By Bobby Breen: July 27, 2009. A team of amateur boxer’s from Ireland recently came to the NY/NJ Metro area to compete against our amateur boxers. Arranged and coordinated by the Dover Boxing Club of Dover, NJ the Ireland team boxed in New Jersey Friday night July 17th and Saturday July 18th in Long Island, NY. The Friday night show was held at Schuetzen Park in North Bergen, NJ.
Put together by Ed Leahy and Rich Stoltenborg who run the Dover Boxing Club gym, this event was made possible by many sponsors. I do not have a complete list of those sponsors but many thanks go out to them for making this show a reality. A special thanks goes out to the Dr. Teddy Atlas Foundation for their participation. It is a great opportunity for young amateur boxers to compete against each other from another country. This could not happen without the involvement of many people especially behind the scenes. Irish born boxer’s John Duddy and James Moore came out to cheer on the competitors. Both Duddy and Moore showed up and paid a special visit to the Ireland team locker room. Duddy and Moore were great in rooting on the Irish team as they won seven of nine bouts. The Irish team came to fight. The bouts were great.
Irish boxer’s Tyrone McKenna and Steven Donnelly were especially triumphant with wins over NY Daily News Golden Glove champions Raul Lopez and Pedro Sosa respectively. McKenna clearly outpointed Lopez in a 132 lb. Open bout being the quicker with hands and feet. Donnelly got tagged good in round one going up against the power punching Sosa, but was able to punch and move the rest of the way, denying Sosa any work on the inside which is his where he is strongest. Donnelly and Sosa met again Saturday night in Long Island, NY with Sosa getting the decision in what appeared to be a hometown favorite score. Although McKenna didn’t do as good as the first night some in the crowd thought he did enough to win the second bout. The only Americans to beat Irish boxers on the Friday card were Angel Vargas and Anthony Gangemi. Vargas of Middletown PAL pulled out a close decision over Nian McGinley in their 152 lb. Open matchup. Gangemi boxed tremendously against David Walsh in their 165 lb Open matchup winning by decision. AIBA Ireland Official Mike Gallagher accompanied the Irish team.
Five other bouts were featured on the card that had New Jersey Local Boxing Committee (LBC) boxer’s competing. This was a dinner show and fund raiser for the Dover Boxing Club, who plan on bringing a team of New Jersey boxer’s over to Ireland to compete against the Irish team on their own turf sometime next year. Dover BC has had several shows like this in past years featuring boxing teams from Canada, England, and Ireland as well as bringing a team of inner city boxer’s to those countries. Anyone interested in helping out with this worthy cause can contact Ed or Rich at the Dover BC website; http://www.doverboxingclub.com/. See you “around the ring”. BB
The complete results of the Friday July 17th Ireland vs. NJ card at Schuetzen Park, NJ;
1) Michael Conlan Ireland dec. Leroy Davila NJ 112 lb. Open
2) Tyrone McKenna Ireland dec. Raul Lopez NY 132 lb. Open
3) Mark Ginley Ireland dec. Adrian Marte NJ 141 Novice
4) Patrick Gallagher Ireland RSC 2:33 R-1 Tyrone Luckey NJ 141 lb. Open
5) Steven Donnelly Ireland dec. Pedro Sosa NY 141 lb. Open
6) Angel Vargas NJ dec. Nian McGinley Ireland 152 lb. Open
7) Coyle Connor Ireland dec. Olson Naranjo NY 165 lb. Open
8) Anthony Gangemi NJ dec. David Walsh Ireland 165 lb. Open
9) Michael Bustard Ireland dec. Malik Gary NJ 165 lb. Open
10) JamieLee Smith Vacca’s Gym dec. Jessica Franco Final Rnd. BC 130 lb (F)
11) Lisandro Tupete Ike’s Gym RSC over Todd Erikson Dover BC 178 lb. Open