Olaniyan secures European berth
JOBSTOWN Boxing Club took their National Championship title count to seven at the weekend after Adam Olaniyan captured the Junior Cadet 90kg title and Stacey O’Connor received a walkover for the Girls 33kg prize.
The former carded a 4-1 victory over Edward Sweeney of Titans BC for his prize and, with it, a place on the Ireland squad that will be fielded in the European Schoolboy/Schoolgirl Championships in Tbilisi, Georgia in August.
Jobstown’s champion Adam Olaniyan with Danny O’Connor, Amanda Spencer and James Gray.
“I thought Adam won the first round, but the second was a lot more rocky and I felt his opponent [Sweeney] came back strong to take that one” admitted Jobstown Coach Amanda Spencer.
“But in the third round, Adam just didn’t give him a minute and had him on the backfoot. He knew he had lost the second round, but he just dominated the third” she said.
It marked Olaniyan’s third National title so far, and both he and his brothers Josh and David have all contributed to what has been Jobstown BC’s most successful season by far. Adam is the first of his siblings to land a cadet title and Spencer insists it was nothing more than he deserves given the work he has put in.
“Adam is improving all the time” she told The Echo. “He’s getting fitter and his work rate is also great.”
Olaniyan will be only the second boxer to represent Jobstown BC in these European Championships, with Jonathan Hughes having qualified three years ago.
His clubmate Stacey O’Connor will be disappointed she is not travelling with him despite having picked up her respective cert at 33kg.
Yet the weight divisions for the Europeans start only at 36kg, meaning her wait for a place on the continental stage continues.
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