TEAM made up of boxers from the Holy Trinity and Monks-town clubs travelled across the pond to take on a team of New Jersey pugilists in Florida recently. The Irish side and their coaches were left celebrating as they triumphed 6-4 against very strong opposition at Marco Island's Marriot Hotel in front of a crowd of well over 800 people.
The first contest of the night saw Monkstown's Matthew Crawley take on Ben Diaz. Crawley boxed well, but came up just short in a thrilling bout, losing out on a split decision.
Another Monkstown man, Ryan Greer, was next into the ring and he made up for the earlier disappointment for the visitors as he overcame Taysean Golden to make it one win apiece for the Irish and USA teams.
Caoimhin Hynes put the Irish into the lead as he defeated Bobby Gunn in one of the fights of the night - the Holy Trinity man boxing and moving brilliantly to score a win. Jordan Swain was another winner for the visitors - winning a toe-to-toe battle against Tayvon Fiish, but Conal Hall came up short against Robert Terry despite putting in a fine display.
Conor Docherty also came up short in his showdown against Jade Ivory as he lost out on a split decision despite many observers believing the Holy Trinity man had done enough.
Thomas Waite came through on a unanimous shut-out win over Lize Jarrett in the next fight to give the visitors the edge on the night. It was four wins apiece after the next bout, however, as Monkstown's Amir Belkessam was defeated by Andrew Montoya in an excellent fight.
Steven Ward was next up and the Commonwealth Games silver medallist was a winner over Ratief Nyakako in an all-action contest, while Holy Trinity's Dee Sullivan rounded off the 6-4 win for the visitors with an excellent win over Dan Mansfield. The American was forced to take three counts in what was one of the best fights of the night.
Naturally, the Irish team and coaches Peter Brady from Holy Trinity and Paul Johnston of Monkstown were delighted with the outcome.
"The boxers performed brilliantly. It was a fantastic experience for them and it was great to see them performing so well both in and out of the ring," said Johnston.