History repeats itself

Brendan Mooney

THE current boxing debacle  concerning the choice of boxers for the world championships is nothing new.

The same thing happened before the last London Olympics when almost all of the 1948 national champions boycotted the Olympic trials. Only one champion showed up amid claims the trials were just being used to raise much-needed revenue at a time when government grants were not even a dream. And back then there was a reigning European champion involved in the controversy.

Seven-time national senior heavyweight champion, Gearoid Ó Colmain, who won the European heavyweight title two years earlier in Helsinki, was among a list of boxers who did not show up for the trials.

According to the report in the Examiner, matters were further complicated when the legendary middleweight Mick McKeon defeated champion, Kevin Doyle (Arbour Hill), the only champion to show up and then went on to beat Michael Stack in the final. Stack, a Limerickman based in Leamington Spa, was a brother-in-law of Randolph Turpin.

That tournament also featured just one Corkman, Tim O’Sullivan, who was an unlucky loser. Other Corkmen including the legendary Tommy Hyde and cruiserweight ‘Gentleman’ Jim Corbett, did not participate in the trials — many feeling a tournament with Dublin officials in the ascendancy would suit them.
 
Tim O’Sullivan remembers the occasion well: “It was a similar situation to what prevailed last week at the National Stadium — history repeating itself,” he said.

“The champions stayed away and the one who champion who did show up lost to Mick McKeon and he joined the other champions who went to London.”

McKeon went on to make the semi-finals at the London Olympics but he would return home without a medal because, at that time, there was just one bronze medal and the two beaten semi-finals would box for that. McKeon suffered an injury in the semi-finals and could not take part in the box-off for third place.

Four years later, in Helsinki, that rule would be changed with two bronze medals awarded to the beaten semi-finalists. Had it been in force previously Ireland would have had four more bronze medals to add to the collection of Olympic medals.

After that Mick McKeon travelled to Cork to box Tommy Hyde in one of Irish boxing’s classic contests while Tim O’Sullivan would go on to make a name for himself as a leading Physiotherapist. He was official physio to the New Zealand and Australian rugby teams at various times as well as working with the 1975 Kerry All-Ireland team and a string of international athletes including three time world indoor champion, Marcus O’Sullivan, Olympic silver medallist, John Treacy, and former record holder, John Hartnett.

Source: http://feeds.examiner.ie/~r/iesportsblog/~3/gvC--srFJXk/post.aspx

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