Breakthrough Buckley – Nicole nears Elite crown

National College Champion Nicole Buckley is ready to graduate and become an Elite star.

The highly decorated underage star made her National Elite Championships debut last weekend beating the experienced Courtney Daly of Crumlin in the 48kg final.

Having aced her debut, the 19-year-old now faces Smithfield’s Ciara Walsh in the decider and she hopes to secure a win that will make her a National Elite Champion at the first attempt.

“I hoping to win it it would be a big boost for me for this year and the rest of my season,” the Offaly minimumweight tells Irish-boxing.com.

“It will be a good competitive fight that’s the main thing. I’ll continue building and moving forward.”

Reflecting on her debut Elite win, the seven-time Irish underage champion, who many in the know are big on, said: “I’m over the moon. It’s my first Elites. All the preparation paid off I’m after getting my first Elite win.

“It was a very difficult fight. My footwork was one of the main things I wanted to work on and I think the work I put in on that really showed today.”