It ended in a draw.
Both the Garda Boxing Club and the New York Fire Department celebrated five wins each at the National Stadium on Saturday.
An event celebrating 100 years of An Garda Siochana saw Garda Boxing Club and the FDNY battle it out in the world’s first purpose-built boxing arena.
The teams were evenly matched and shared victories equally.
78kg: Kevin Guziman vs. Eoin O’Connor, 4-1, blue.
63kg: Matt Blewitt vs. Finbar Thompson, 5-0, blue
66kg: Nicole Malpeso vs. Shirley Baker, 5-0, red
75kg: Sean Dillon vs. Eoin O’Neill, 4-1, red
75kg: Javier Rosario vs. Senan Morris, RSC 1, red.
85kg: Dean Flanagan vs. Gary Kilcullen, 5-0, blue
81kg: Fernandez Badejo vs. Paul Corcoran, 4-1, red.
72kg: Jeff Barreau vs. Foad Baghban, 4-1, red
80kg: James Gennari vs. Jack McHugh, 3-2, blue
91+kg: Patrick Lavery vs. Dan Hoolahan, 4-1, blue
A select team from the New York Fire Department traveled to Dublin to obtain Friday’s card.
Brian Sutton, Garda Boxing Club, says: “An Garda Siochana has a rich and proud history of involvement in the sport of boxing in Ireland. This history dates back to the formation of the IABA in 1911 when General Eoin O Duffy moved from the Army to the newly formed Irish Police Service. After the war of independence, he attached great importance to the sport of amateur boxing within An Garda Siochana. During Commissioner O’Duffy’s tenure, the sport of amateur boxing in Ireland was largely dominated by the Gardai and the military. Ireland’s new police force, under the guidance of Commissioner O’Duffy, helped the sport emerge from the garrisons to become the sport of the working people, by assisting in the establishment of boxing clubs across the country. Commissioner O’Duffy was something of a visionary, who saw these boxing clubs as a means of introducing Gardai to local communities.
This work laid the foundation for the long-standing relationship between An Garda Siochana members and boxing clubs across the country, which continues to flourish to this day. This is also evidenced in the GARDA/IABA Community Outreach (Hi Garda) program this year where An Garda Siochana members visit and interact with Boxing Clubs across the country and meet young people where they feel comfortable and build bridges to build stronger, safer and happier communities. . The goal of this program is to act as a vehicle for early intervention, resulting in young people engaging with the Gardai community in a positive way. A strong bond of friendship and respect has been established over many years of collaborative work and commitment between An Garda Siochana and the IABA.”
Members of An Garda Siochana have won national boxing titles and have represented Ireland nationally and internationally. They have also won European and world police boxing titles.
Brian Byrne has 6 national titles. Ger Lawlor, Paul Connolly, Willie Cooper, Larry Morrison, Eddie McDonnell and Christina Desmond won national titles. Adam Nolan represented Ireland at the 2012 Olympics.
The Garda Siochana Boxing Club would like to thank Michael Gill and Liffey Crane Hire for their support.
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