Best Light Heavy in NY – Rising Star O’Bradaigh Builds on Golden Gloves Success
He’s becoming a successful SO’B.
Sean O’Bradaigh rise through the amateur ranks continues to pick up pace and his status as one to watch out for was cemented by a recent New York Boxing Tournament win.
The 21-year-old Irish-American with strong links to Dublin became the champion of the New York metropolitan area late last month.
En route to the final O’Bradaigh got revenge over the American #5 Tyric Trapp, a fighter who beat him well at national level just weeks before.
Indeed, it seems that win meant more to him that the final victory.
“The quarter-final win was massive for me bc I beat the #5 in the country, who had beaten me previously in a national tournament in Texas a month prior.
“One judge had him winning our first fight 30-25 and in the second fight, I completely changed my game plan and beat him unanimously.
“I didn’t think it could be such a different fight with just one month apart,” he beams.
O’Bradaigh won the Ring Masters [formerly Golden Gloves] middleweight crown earlier in the year at novice level. This was an elite title win that enables him to declare himself the Big Apple’s big man and the best light heavy in New York.
“As for the final, it was a big deal because it’s my first belt,” he adds. “In the Ring Masters I won a ring, which was awesome but belts are what we fight for in boxing. It was my second New York title but my first elite title, the first being novice. So now I can say that I’m the best light-heavyweight in the New York Metropolitan Area.”
After his win he did a kind deed for Kind Deeds, eventually fulfilling a promise to someone his Mam helped out by raising a Ukrainian flag.
“My Mom helped raise money for Ukrainian soldiers who lost their limbs in the war and came to the US to get prosthetic legs,” he explains.
“I promised one of them that I would raise his flag when I won at the Garden but I forgot to so I did it at this final. He got his prosthetic leg here and now he’s back on the fronts, fighting for his country with a prosthetic leg.”
