This weekend in Dublin, boxers from across the island will gather for the Elite National Championships. Waterford will be represented by two pugilists from Saviours Crystals boxing club, with Kelyn Cassidy going in the light heavyweight final against Tommy Hyde, while Sean Purcell faces Adam Hession in the featherweight final.
Cassidy has won two U22 National Irish titles and represented Ireland at the under 22 European championships. A skillful boxer who enters his bouts with his hands held low, focussing on stance switching trying to make his opponents miss Kelyn will be hoping to stop Hyde from reaching the top rung of the ladder on Saturday evening.
The man opposite him - Tommy Hyde- was previously an U18 National Champion and similarly to Cassidy is a technical boxer who tries to rely on his skill and elusiveness to get through his bouts.
Speaking to WLR Sport this week, Cassidy says he's excited to get in the ring for what will be his first elite final.
"I'm absolutely buzzing. Just looking forward to getting in there and showing my boxing I suppose. Been out of the ring a long time so it was good to get a semi-final last Saturday. Got the ring rust off, haven't been in the ring in nearly 18 months I think so it was good to get in there and just get the cobwebs off and get ready for Saturday.
It'll be like a game of chess - it's hit and don't get hit. Make him miss and make him pay. But yeah Tommy is good he's been around the block, he's done a lot of rounds, I've spared him a lot of times so we're familiar to each other. It's been a long time coming I suppose, we've always been in different weights and now we're actually in the same one so finally we get to meet I suppose."
Focussing on the amateur game, Cassidy has to try to balance the commitments of his sport with his work and personal life. Working full time while trying to fit in an intense training regime comes with its own challenges.
"Yeah, it's a hard balance I suppose but I'm lucky. With my company, they facilitate me in every way shape or form they can and they've been nothing but good to me -work have been absolutely great and I couldn't thank them enough for it.
I training was my full time I wouldn't have to get up for these runs at five or six in the morning, then go do an eight hour shift and try go to the gym - you're physically just drained."
While Cassidy comes to the weekend's action on one end of the weighing scales, his club mate Sean Purcell is on the other end - a full 63 kg lighter. He faces a hot prospect in Adam Hession who has already been pegged for greatness in amateur boxing circles.
Purcell can only lay claim to underage Irish titles as well as representing Ireland at the Youth World Championships. He has also won a senior title back in 2019, while he represented Ireland and won golf at the Eindhoven boxing cup in the same year. His coach Paul Simpson says that he has every confidence that he can come through what will be a very challenging fight against a nailed on favorite.
Sean's very good kid. Unfortunately, we've been out of the ring for like two years now. So this is his first competition back. We've been working with him, he's a good kid, he's been putting in the work. So he had a quarterfinal; he won that and he had a semi-final and he won that too. This is his third fight now in three weeks. He's in against Adam Hession.
It's a 50/50 fight. Adam Hession - he's the poster boy at the moment for Irish boxing. They're holding him in high esteem, they've big hopes for him going forward in the future; maybe going to the Olympics and World Championships. A lot of people out there in the boxing world will be saying Hession will win it, I don't think he will. I think it's going to be a very very hard fight for both boys.
Looking at the styles and looking at the way the two lads box; they're completely different. Hession is a mid-range fighter, while Sean can box at range so it's going to be a very tactical battle.
Waterford has been waiting a long time for somebody to bring an Elite title back to the county. In 2000 Neil Gough and Matin Murphy claimed titles, but since then a title has not been brought home to the Deise. Simpson says that for a small club like Saviours Crystals, it would be absolutely massive to claim two titles at the elite level.
"So for us, Waterford, Ballybeg and the community in Waterford itself, it would be a phenomenal achievement.
This is like the GAA finals. It's like the FA Cup final. It's like the Champions League Final. The winners of these go to World Championships, the winners of these go and qualify to hopefully to get to Paris 2024 stepping stone as its massive."
