Bates back in decider
GEORGE Bates cruised into his fifth National Senior Boxing Championship final after he carded a 5-0 victory over Paulstown’s Keith Flavin in the National Stadium on Saturday night.
The St Mary’s 63kg boxer turned in a fine performance, using his longer reach and superior speed to good effect as he earned a unanimous decision.
George Bates
“George boxed really well,” said St Mary’s Head Coach Noel Burke. “He had sparred the lad up in our club so we knew what he would bring.
“But George had a longer reach and better speed and he won quite comfortably. He improved with every round” he said.
Standing in the way of Bates and back-to-back Senior Championship honours this coming Saturday is James McGivern who took a 4-1 decision against Kenneth Doyle of Monkstown in his respective semi final.
“He [McGivern] is a good southpaw who’s medalled in the Commonwealth Games, but this is George’s fifth National Elite final so he has plenty of experience and he’ll have a bit of a reach advantage too.
“He can deal with any kind of boxing style and he’s fought a number of world class southpaws and dealt with them,” he pointed out.
Meanwhile St Mary’s Gillian Duffy bowed out of the National Elites after losing out to Grainne Walsh in the Women’s Welterweight semi finals.
Despite the loss, Coach Burke remained very positive saying “She put in a fantastic performance, we couldn’t have been happier with her.
“She’s only been with us for the past six months and she got stopped by this girl in the second round of their previous fight, but this was a much better performance,” he added.
Also set to be in action on Finals night will be St Mary’s World Lightweight champion Kellie Harrington who will face off against Serbia’s Jelena Jelic in an international bout.
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