Jordan Moore: “I didn’t get out of second gear”
It’s been a long time since the European Championships in Moscow in June 2010. Here Kenny Egan took home bronze, and the Neilstown legend remains the last Dublin man to win a major senior international boxing medal for Ireland.
One fighter who could finally be Dublin’s next star claimed a National U18 title at the weekend. Glasnevin light flyweight Jordan Moore comprehensively defeated Conor McCourt of the Clonard club in Belfast in the opening bout of the day at the National Stadium.
The reigning champion was just too big, quick, strong, and skillful for his brave Belfast opponent.
There’s something special about the rangey Northsider. Flashy, but not too flashy. Confident, but not arrogantly so. Slick, but able to mix it if needs be.
Following his win, three-time National champion Moore spoke to Irish-Boxing.com and admitted that “I didn’t get out of second gear, I just did what I could to win it.”
Perhaps what was most impressive though was that Moore won his final despite carrying an injury into the fight, as he revealed afterwards that “my shoulder was a bit at me, but I’ll be alright.”
Going by his performance, you would not have known that Moore was carrying a knock into the ring. Indeed in the second round he even threw in a few ‘Lomachenkos’ (where a boxer quickly pulls down his opponent’s guard with one hand and near-simultaneously lands a hook with the other), and he laughed afterwards, noting how “I’ve been practicing them!”
The relative sparsity of Dublin fighters at the top level of the sport has been noticed by Moore, who described how “at the last under 18s in April I was the only Dub to win it, and this one I was only Dub actually in the final.” Moore, alongside the likes of Glasnevin team-mate and 2016 Elite senior runner-up Thomas Carty, could be sort of fighters to lead a resurgence of amateur boxing in the capital.
Before he moves into the Senior ranks however there is the small matter of the World Youth Championships in St Petersburg. Here Moore would look to emulate another one of his Glasnevin team-mates, Kelly Harrington, and take home a World Championships medal – but he doesn’t want to get ahead of himself and explained that “I’m not sure [if he’ll be going], the team hasn’t been picked yet but it’s usually the winners that are going.”
Huge at the weight and full of talent – Moore wouldn’t be out of place on the World stage.
