RTÉ to provide live coverage of 2018 National Elite Senior Championship finals
For the first time in half a decade, the National Elite Senior Championship finals will be shown on Ireland’s national broadcaster.
It has emerged that RTÉ are to return to the National Stadium for the finals on Friday February 23rd.
Great boxing competitions from @IABABOXING at the @NationalStad over the next few weekends culminating in the National Elite Finals at the end of February which will be televised live by @RTEsport @rte #elites
— Pat Costello (@pcsportandpromo) February 2, 2018
The channel have not shown the championships since 2013. In the intervening period, TG4 aired the 2014, 2015, and 2016 editions. The 2017 championships were not shown on any channel, and footage was only uploaded to YouTube almost two months later.
The move adds to an encouraging period for Irish boxing on terrestrial television, with TG4 set to broadcast the inaugural Ireland’s Last Man Standing tournament at the same venue on Saturday March 3rd.
Weigh-ins for the Seniors take place tomorrow morning, with preliminaries and quarter-finals on the 9th and 10th, semis on the 16th and 17th, and the live finals on the 23rd.
This month’s tournament is the first of two championships to run in 2018 – with the 2019 edition taking place in November to facilitate the Olympic qualifiers next year.
A number of big names are expected to miss out this month, with the Commonwealth Games taking place in April, the European U22s in March, and a number of young fighters choosing to bide their time and develop for the internationally more crucial tournament later in the year.
