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Sutherland retains National Championship

Local boxer Darren Sutherland produced a couple of brilliant performances recently to retain his national boxing title and rekindle his chances of going to the Olympic Games in Beijing later in the year. Sutherland had to come from behind to retain his 75kg title after a four-round thriller with his great rival Darren O'Neill at the National Stadium in Dublin. The Champ - Darren Sutherland at the National Championships

Before reaching that stage Sutherland had a semi-final against Seán Shevlin. Sutherland utterly dominated this bout forcing his opponent to take two standing counts before the referee stepped in to end the contest in the second round with Sutherland enjoying a massive 11-1 lead.

In the other semi-final Darren O’Neill, the Kilkenny boxer, had a much harder passage into the final against the experienced Edward Healy, but after a level first round he opened up in the second and third, connecting with lefts and rights en route to recording a convincing 15-3 victory.

This cleared the way for perhaps the most eagerly awaited bout of the championships. O'Neill was in top form taking the opening two rounds and looked as if it might be his night. Sutherland, however, had other ideas and came storming back with a brilliant performance in the third and fourth round to claim a 21-15 verdict from a fight which had the crowd on the edge of their seats.

This fight had not just the Irish championship up for grabs but also a place in the Irish squad for the Olympic qualifier in Pescara at stake.

O'Neill claimed the first round, moving to the flanks of Sutherland’s full-frontal assault to land four punches in quick succession approaching the bell. A classic second round saw O'Neill stretch his lead to four points, landing a beautiful right on the retreat, although he was caught by a stinging jab from Sutherland.

They say that it is in adversity that true champions are shown and Sutherland certainly showed the heart of a true champion to take the third round, forcing O'Neill into a standing count en route to overturning the first two rounds and taking a 16-13 lead.

The St Saviours OBA man then added another five points to his tally to claim his second Irish title in a row from an absorbing four rounds of boxing which was worth the entrance fee alone.

A thrilled Sutherland said: "That was one of the best scraps to grace the National Stadium in years and I'm absolutely thrilled with the win."

Rumours of a likely change to the professional ranks for Sutherland have emerged recently but for now, one presumes, Beijing is the only target.

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