European glory for Westport boxer

FAMILY TIES European silver medalist Laura Moran of St Anne’s BC is pictured with members of her family at her homecoming at the Pete Callaghan Centre in Westport last Sunday. Left to right: Ann Heraty, Tom Moran, Oisin Moran and Nora Moran.  Pic: John Moylette


Michael Gallagher

ONE of the rising stars of Irish boxing made a serious impression last week when Westport star Laura Moran captured a silver medal at the European Youth Championships in Bulgaria.
The St Anne’s boxer was in superb form and caught the eye of many with stunning wins over Turkish, English and Polish fighters in the 70kg final before coming against the excellent Veronika Nakota of Ukraine in the final.
The undefeated Nakota is one of the superstars of world boxing, but the Aghagower fighter gave as good as she got, winning the opening round, losing the second and being edged out 3-2 in the deciding round.
That was as close as Nakota ever came to a reversal and Moran’s display lit up the arena in front of a passionate Mayo and Irish following.
The silver medalist arrived back in Mayo over the weekend and was greeted by large crowds in Aghagower and Westport where she spoke to the attendance and thanked them for the great support she has received ever since she started boxing.
“I lost my first two fights, but now I’m here with a European medal and so many people helped me along the way.Hopefully, we might have a few more good nights in the future,” said the delighted teenager.
St Anne’s BC President, Peter Mullen, was a proud man when he spoke to The Mayo News yesterday (Monday). “There was a time when we found Irish titles very hard to win but we already have six of them this season and now we’re winning more European medals as well. “We have Darren Daly going to the Boy 3 Championships next week and we’re very excited about that too. These are special times for St Anne’s and I’m delighted for Laura and her great family, who are such a huge part of the club.”
Laura is hoping to capture another Irish title in the coming months which will then qualify her for the World Championships in Spain in November, but first she has the pressing matter of a Connacht minor football final between Mayo and Galway to deal with.
There was more joy for St Anne’s at the weekend when the impressive Ruby Sweeney won another Irish title to add to her growing reputation in the sport. Ruby won the 53kg at the Boy/Girl 2 Championships in Dublin when she outboxed Scarlett Ball from Trojan.
There was added Mayo success at the championships when Gary stokes from Ballaghaderreen won the 31kg final and Achill’s Tony Davitt brought the 86kg crown back to the island.
The Boy/Girl 1 Championship was even better for Mayo with Swinford leading the roll of honour with three titles - Patrick Maughan 87kg, Zoey Howley 31kg and Katelyn Fitzgerald 29kg. Claremorris fighter Michael Mullaney followed a famous family tradition when winning the 44.5kg crown to cap a very special week for Mayo boxing.