Sport

The Eagle has landed - why Dylan can steal the show in Birmingham

He’s Irish boxing’s hottest prospect, and Dylan Eagleson has already shown he has what it takes to shine at the Commonwealth Games - beginning his bid for gold on Thursday. Neil Loughran talks to the Bangor teenager…

In his first outing an elite level, Dylan Eagleson won a silver medal at the European Championships in Armenia. Picture by Hugh Russell
In his first outing an elite level, Dylan Eagleson won a silver medal at the European Championships in Armenia. Picture by Hugh Russell In his first outing an elite level, Dylan Eagleson won a silver medal at the European Championships in Armenia. Picture by Hugh Russell

A FEW short months ago, the whispers started going around that Dylan Eagleson would be the surprise package in Birmingham. Just turned 18, and without a fight at senior level, his hotshot reputation on home soil was under wraps – for now.

Those whispers continued to grow louder, yet his selection for the European Championships in May still raised eyebrows in some quarters. Considering he hadn’t even competed against grown men in Ireland, was there a danger of too much, too soon?

By the time Eagleson returned from Armenia, Irish boxing’s worst-kept secret was officially out.

With a string of superb performances, the Bangor teenager announced his arrival on the international stage in style, returning home with a silver medal around his neck.

In the absence of bantamweight picks from England, India, Australia and Canada at the Commonwealth Games, he has gone from unknown quantity to serious contender in a short space of time - with Thursday's quarter-final against Mozambique's Armando Sigauque offering the opportunity to seal at least bronze.

That tag rests lightly on his young shoulders.

“Everyone’s going out there wanting to win,” he said, “but I feel like I’m the one to be beat.”

To those in the know, Eagleson’s emergence is not unexpected. Ask any of the coaches who had him under their wing at Bangor Academy, or Ralph McKay at St Paul’s, and they will wax lyrical about the kind of natural style and swagger seldom seen.

“Years ago I went to a boxing show, Aidan was on it, Belfast were fighting a USA select, and I remember seeing Dylan for the first time,” recalls Michaela Walsh, a veteran of two previous Commonwealth Games and team-mate of Eagleson this time around.

“He was only a baby, but you could see even the way he was working on the pads… I was telling everybody ‘this kid is going to be unbelievable’.”

“I probably shocked myself, to be honest,” he admits of his European odyssey.

“I knew no-one was really expecting much… well, I’m sure they were, but I was talking about not even going because I didn’t have any senior experience. I didn’t know if I was ready, but I thought I’d give it a shot.

“I went out, listened to the coaches and got a silver, so it went alright…”

It was the manner of the performances, the variety of skills and the ability to respond and adjust under pressure, against different types of opponents, which impressed above all else.

The opener against Muhammet Sacli couldn’t have provided more a wake-up call as the tough Turk came roaring out, all guns blazing

“I was nervous going in,” says the baby-faced Eagleson.

“We’d been at a training camp in Italy before, I did well, sparring Roscoe Hill from America… all that gave me confidence. But he [Sacli] was strong, you could feel the difference up at that level in terms of power.

“He put everything into it, came out trying to bang me – I made sure I gave him a few bangs back as well. In the end I went out and schooled him.”

The quarter-final, against Spain’s two-time Olympian Gabriel Escobar Mascunano, offered a different challenge – and saw Eagleson forced to change things up.

“He was awkward… I didn’t know how he was going to come out, and I ended up 3-2 down after the first so I knew I had to go out and win the next round.

“Once I did, I got into the flow and in the last round, I actually enjoyed that one. Some people lose the first and the head goes down, but I didn’t want to go out at that stage. I was determined not to.

“I wanted a medal so badly.”

Two-time European gold medallist Daniel Asenov stood in the way at the semi-final stage, the experienced Bulgarian promising the stiffest test of Eagleson’s fledgling career – until he was swatted aside with surprising ease.

“He came out trying to box me in the first round, which I was surprised by because he’s a banger, but I boxed the ears off him to be honest. It was an easier one because he suited me.”

The final, though, was a reminder that sport’s toughest game hadn’t been mastered yet.

Against another slickster in Bilal Bennama, it was the Frenchman who prevailed with a bit to spare, the 23-year-old dropping Eagleson with a lightning fast combination midway through the second round.

“He was much more experienced, had his game-plan down to a tee. We were similar styles, whoever landed the first punch was always going to win because they’d draw the other one in… he was better than me on the day, wasn’t he?”

Despite the scale of his own achievement, it is easy to tell those words don’t sit easily with Eagleson.

“I’ve probably watched it back 10 times already,” he says with a rueful smile, “I was disappointed, it wasn’t my best performance. There’ll be better days ahead.”

“If he’s looked at it 10 times, I’ve looked at it 20 times,” said John Conlan, performance lead for Team NI in Birmingham.

“I’ll make sure I’m watching and seeing where he needs to improve, what he needs to do to get to that next level.”

Conlan has followed Eagleson’s progress for years and, rather than his standout showing between the ropes in Yerevan, it was the young man’s reaction to defeat that convinced him Irish boxing has something special on its hands.

“What’s brilliant about him is in his first major elite tournament he gets a silver medal, and it’s just that confidence and cockiness… I love that. I love to see that.

“If he doesn’t believe in himself, he ain’t going to achieve anything, so I love to see a kid who has complete confidence and shows no fear, is eager to learn and is devastated when he loses.

“Afterwards when I rang one of the coaches and asked how he was, he was crying his eyes out, very upset and I thought ‘brilliant’, because now he needs to know where he has to go.

“I can’t stand an excuse mentality, I love to see the resilience of an athlete and the determination after a decision doesn’t go their way. That’s what Dylan has shown us.”

"You can’t look at a video of him and say ‘that’s the way I’ll beat him’," adds Team NI head coach Damian Kennedy, "because he’ll bring something else to the table.

"Dylan’s not a one-trick pony - far from it. There’s a whole lot of variations to his game, and people are going to struggle with him."