The Erne Boxing Club’s remarkable 2024 finished on a high last weekend with Anthony Malanaphy winning a gold medal at a multi-nations tournament in Warsaw, Poland whilst boxing as part of the Ulster High-Performance team.
Competing in the Welterweight 67 kg category, he was pitted against Romanian boxer Samuel Roman in the semi-finals.
Malanaphy boxed really well behind his jab, managing the distance, and set up good backhand punches.
His cleaner punches and good jab work saw him register a unanimous points win over a strong and tough opponent who had recently made his professional debut.
In the final, on the Saturday, he was up against host boxer, Poland’s Szymon Brzakata.
Malanaphy was highly impressive, he controlled the contest from start to finish behind the jab and then landed uppercuts on his opponent at will.
Anthony Malanaphy in action at the weekend.
After subduing his Polish opponent in all three rounds he again collected a unanimous points decision to win gold. It was an outstanding performance from the Erne favourite and this reflected by him also being awarded the ‘Boxer of the Tournament’ accolade.
“The victory is Anthony’s first gold medal of the year and rounds off what’s been an excellent start to the season and a great 2024 for the club,” said Erne Boxing Club Head Coach Sean Crowley.
“Anthony will now target the Ulster Elite Championships in January and hopefully progress to Commonwealth Games selection. On current form he has a great chance of success,” added Crowley.
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