Introducing: Adrian Farquhar
There’s a fresh new face and an unfamiliar accent on the Dublin boxing scene right now.
While thousands of Irish people continue to relocate Down Under, 18 year old Australian Adrian Farquhar has made the big decision to make the move to Ireland.
The Canberra light welterweight, following an extended visit last year, has chosen to base himself in Tallaght and Stephen Kavanagh’s Kilnamanagh BC ahead of an assault on the pro scene.
A top underage amateur in his native country, the pros were always the dream for Farquhar, who believes that Ireland is the best place to start a paid career.
Farquhar explained to Irish-Boxing.com that the 17,000 kilometer move “is all for boxing. I came here last year for two and a half months just to get my bearings and to see how I held up against the top Irish boxers who are probably, in my opinion, the best fighters in the World.”
“I came here to see how I went and I loved it, so I decided to come back, I didn’t think there was a better place to come. My nan’s Irish, which may have swayed me over here a bit more, but really it was purely boxing related.”
“The boxing scene is not very big in Australia. We’re very isolated, we’d get an odd fight here or there but it’s not as big as Europe.”
Kilnamanagh BC was a natural choice too, with Kavanagh having been the man who kindly welcomed them to Ireland. Farquhar recalled how “last year when we came over we had to find somewhere to start, and Kavo had said ‘sure, you can come to my gym, check it out and get yourself set. If you want to go somewhere else that’s cool, but there’ll be a place for you here.'”
“We came over, met him, and we loved him.”
With the Commonwealth Games taking place on the Gold Coast in Australia next year, and Farquhar still only being a teenager, the move has raised some eyebrows. However there’s no time like the present for youngster who has long held a desire to turn pro.
Farquhar admits that “a lot of people in Australia have said maybe I’m turning pro too young, that maybe I should wait as the Commonwealth Games trials are going on back home at the minute. But, for me, it’s always my dream to be a world champion and a professional, so why not do it now?”
“I’m a rangey boxer but I’ve got a fair bit of power as well, so I like to keep people at the end of my punches.”
“I’m looking to start soon enough, obviously I’ve a long way to go, but it will be good to get in the ring.”
Jamie Conlan joins Gavan Casey and Joe O’Neill for Episode 3 of The Irish Boxing Show:
