Devon delight for Killyman club’s magnificent seven

KILLYMAN Boxing Club enjoyed a hugely successful trip to the Barum Box Cup in Devon last week where seven local fighters won medals.

There were gold medals for Blair Kirk, Joshua Cairns and Christopher Whitehouse, whose brother Justin claimed a silver alongside their cousins Isaac Whitehouse and Patrick Whitehouse, while Filipe Varela earned a bronze.

“It was unbelievable,” beamed club founder and head coach, Stuart Kirk. “We got three golds, three silvers and a bronze. I never would have anticipated that level of success, I’d have been happy enough to come away with a bronze!

“But we ended up fourth [club] in the [medals] table, which makes it all worthwhile. But that comes down to the dedication of the wee lads, who haven’t quit. They trained all summer.”

Kirk believes the extra training his lads have put in over the summer and the subsequent success they earned in England will hold them in good stead for the Irish season ahead when he hopes they can improve upon what has been a stunning 2025 thus far.

“[The trip to Devon] was part of their preparations for the big tournaments that are coming up,” he explained.

“The whole club, we’ve really done really well this year, it’s been outstanding.

“We had four in the All-Ireland finals this year, so we’ll have to try to do even better!”

Meanwhile, Mid Ulster and Ulster champion, 16-year-old Blair Kirk, who was an Irish finalist last year and who is now a member of the Ulster High Performance squad, was in Irish Cadet Championship action on Friday evening against reigning champion, Newtownstewart’s Two Castles Olympic Boxing Club’s Conan McSorley. The two Tyrone lads put on an exciting bout with McSorley getting the nod on all of the judges scorecards. He went on to defeat Jack Cahill, from Portlaoise, by the same margin in the semi-finals on Saturday and he will go on to fight in the final next weekend.