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JUDE Gallagher boosted his hopes of retaining his Commonwealth Games title next year by winning the 60kg title in Belfast on Thursday night, claiming the prestigious Nat Joseph Memorial Belt for best boxer at the Ulster Elite Championships in the process.
That victory, which came via a fairly comfortable success against Jordan O’Donnell of the St George’s club, should seal the Two Castles club man ‘s place on the plane to Glasgow next summer when he will be keen to add the 60kg gold medal to the 57kg crown he claimed in Birmingham back in 2022.
“I’m delighted,” beamed the Paris Olympian. “Hopefully now, that should get me to the Commonwealth’s which is what I wanted to do. I wanted to win these championships and put my name forward, put it right to the forefront to get back to the Commonwealth Games. It’s a step in the right direction.”
En route to Thursday’s Ulster final, the Newtownstewart boxer overcame the challenge of friend, former Irish semi-final opponent and fellow Commonwealth Games gold medalist, Dylan Eagleson, who he defeated 5-0 to progress.
“I came through the semi-final very well against Dylan,” he added. “He’s a top operator, so I knew it was going to be a tough fight going into it. I won the first two rounds and then coasted through the third. It was comfortable and I enjoyed it. It was a good fight because we’re pally enough too so you have to out that to one side. But it’s nice to have a chat about the fight afterwards.”
In the final, Gallagher went toe-to-toe with a fresh face in O’Donnell.
“He was a big, strong lad. I didn’t know much about him,” he acknowledged. “I stuck to my boxing and first round out, I moved around, worked around my jab and towards the end of the round I caught him with a lovely counter back hand and sort of wobbled him a bit.
“Then, in the second and third rounds, I picked the pace up and went through the gears. It was a good performance and I’m very happy with it.”
Jude will maintain his training over Christmas to ensure he’s fighting fit for the Irish Championships, which get underway on January 9th before he turns his attentions to Glasgow and his hope of becoming a two-time gold medal winner at the Commonwealth Games.
