Gallagher’s delighted to get back to winning ways as Commonwealth Games beckon

TO say the last two years have been frustrating would be an understatement and that statement certainly rings true for Newtownstewart boxer, Jude Gallagher.

The supremely talented flyweight looked certain to represent Ireland at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo after the then 18-year-old won the Irish Elite 52kg crown when beating Adam Hession in Dublin in 2019.

Unfortunately for the Two Castles Boxing Club man his victory came just before a growth spurt and the Covid pandemic. The latter forced the postponement of the Games for 12 months and the height gain meant there was no chance Gallagher was going to make the 52kg weight.

But when one door closes another opens, as they say, and after two years of hard training, the now 20-year-old Tyrone pugilist is targeting a place at the Commonwealth Games next year and the Olympics in Paris in 2024.

“[After winning the Irish title] I was invited down to Dublin for the high performance team and I was training away and I was selected for a multi-nations tournament in Bulgaria,” Jude explained.

“It was on the mouth of Christmas and I had to make 52kg but I had sprouted and I could not hold the weight any more.
“Even if I had made it there, I would never have held it for another year to make the Olympics.

“Hopefully I’ve stopped growing now because the Olympics now is just two years away and the qualifying year is only a year away and anything can happen.”

He took the first step in achieving those goals on Thursday of last week when beating a tough foe in Monkstown’s Conor Kerr 3-2 in a thrilling 57kg Ulster Elite Championship final in Belfast to hopefully seal his place at the Commonwealth Games.

“That was a selection qualifier for the Commonwealth Games. There’s been nothing said but hopefully I’ll get the call,” Gallagher said.

“It was great to get back and to win the fight, which was probably harder than it needed to be so hopefully we can now keep the ball rolling.”

His latest success came just two months after a disappointing reverse to Hession in the 57kg Irish Elite Championship semi-finals, which happened just two weeks after recovering from a bout of Covid.

“Training camp was flying and we were meant to go to Wales for sparring a few weeks before so I had to take a Covid test before travelling and going up the road in the car, had no word yet, pulled into the airport and the test came through that I was positive,” Jude explained.

“That put me out for two weeks, which left me with 10 days to get back up to shape and when I got back in the right I could feel it.

“With it being so close to the Irish Elites [I probably should have withdrawn] but we went for it because it’s been that long since we’ve been boxing and God knows when we’d be boxing again because it had been two years.

“I thought we’d give it a go and it was good to get back and to get back into the ring.”

Also fighting at the Ulster Elite’s were Cookstown BC’s Craig Bigger, who won the 51kg crown after beating Irish champion Paddy McShane, while Craig’s clubmate, Teo Allin, lost out in the quarter-finals of the 60kg class 3-2 to Dominic Bradley.

And Carrickmore’s Aaron Travers beat Denis Boriskins 5-0 in the 92+kg class before losing by the same scoreline to Thomas Maughan in the final.

Meanwhile, Two Castles BC had five boxers qualified for the National Boy 1 and 2 Championships run over two weekends in Dublin.

Daithi McNamee and Eoghan Miller lost their semi-finals to the eventual champions and Conan McSorley also lost his last four clash via split decision .

Ronan McBrearty entered Saturday’s Boy 1 final and encountered a very mature opponent from Belfast. Ronan gave a very good account of himself and can be proud of his achievement in winning the silver medal.

Jay Fee entered Sunday’s final against a Dublin lad and boxed brilliantly to gain a convincing victory.

Club president Paul Mayse paid tribute, stating: “Jay Fee has something a wee bit different in his boxing style.

“He has a great movement and is very difficult to score against , whilst he can attack from different angles, He was very good over the couse of this Championship with more to come.”