The Return of The Big Men – National Elite Championships Session 2 Results and Report

Everyone loves a big man! And we have new ones to follow after the second session of Saturday’s National Elite Championships installment.

The big men were out in force with Thomas Maughan particularly announcing himself on the scene thanks to victory over recent Olympic qualifying competitor Gytis Lisinkas.

Samuel Ilesanmi also caught the eye and looks like he may have the potential to have an impact at the weight, as he survived a late scare to defeat Phil Brophy, who himself appears to have entertain potential.

Throw in the fact Patrick Rodgers registered a stoppage win and you have a relatively fresh and exciting final four, even taking into account former champion Martin Keenan‘s presence.

There might be a ‘new shiny thing’ element to it but – although still some way off in terms of quality – there does appear room for the new look heavyweight scene to grow into the kind of competitive era not seen since Niall Kennedy, Dean ‘Breakfast’ Gardiner, Sean ‘Big Sexy’ Turner and Con Sheehan all populated the same championships.

The eagerly anticipated current raiser set to pitch Olympian and man to beat at the featherweight, Kurt Walker against European Under-22 and new kid on the block, Adam Hession didn’t happen, as the Canal fighter didn’t weigh in, meaning Monivea’s Hession progresses.

Then just as a bout between fellow 57kgs Sean Purcell and Bailey Marshall was warming up it was stopped due to a cut. A clash of heads left Saviours Crystal’s Marshall nursing a cut over his eye, a cut the doctor felt severe enough to stop the fight, meaning 2018 bantamweight champion Marshall progressed thanks to 4-1 scoreline.

Jake McMahon and Jordan Smith didn’t fight as scheduled and after a break, it was the turn of the big men. Patrick Rodgers winning a Derry derby by stopping Jack Divine within a round.

The St Johns super heavyweight looked assured behind a solid jab and wasn’t afraid to let combinations fly when given the chance. Springtown’s Divine struggled to close the space and as the round wore on it became clear the red corner fighter had stoppage win potential.

A long left hook with under 20 seconds to go in the stanza forced Divine to take a standing eight count and when a second one was administered just shy of the bell the referee waved the fight off.

The heavyweight in Olympic pole, considering he was chosen to replace Dean Gardiner in the Olympic qualifiers earlier this year, Gytis Lisinkas was in next taking Thomas Maughan.

Maughan gave more than a good account of himself taking the victory. The Monaghan fighter who impressed underage at light heavy and heavy has a natural skill set, a beautiful jab and an effective lead hook. The Cavan BC fighter also pressed the action in the first two rounds. His Galway opponent probably landed the bigger shots but needed more action behind a more languid back foot approach.

Lisinkas, himself an underage champion, came out firing in the last, threatening to test Maughan’s staying power and fitness. The Celtic Eagles fighter landing some big hooks and uppercuts in an attempt to turn things around. However, Maughan managed to weather the storm to secure unanimous points victory, registering one of the first surprises of this years tournament.

A battle of two awkward but effective former champions followed. The hard-to-score clash was a first announced a draw but given the way of Limerick’s Martin Keenan after a countback.

The fight saw as much grappling as Okungbowa would have prepared for, for his summer MMA fight and never really found a rhythm.

However, Keenan was able to land some eye-catching counter in the first and Okungbowa wobbled the Rathkeale man with a lovely right hand left hook on the bell of the second.

The Athlone super heavy seemed to be shading proceedings a scrappy third but with just a minute to go, Keenan got up on the toes of his everyday runners and managed to land some counter hooks and one nice right hand in particular.

Samuel Ilesanmi followed in Maughan’s footsteps in announcing himself as a new super heavyweight scene, but just about. The St Mary’s boxer registered an impressive win over Angles big man Phil Brophy but only after surviving a late scare. Giant Brophy piled forward like a squat heavy in the last round, forced his fellow Dub into a standing eight count and came within seconds of registering.

However, the Tallaght fighter who was light on his feet and boxed off a solid and fast jab in the opening two stanzas, hung on in there to claim a 4-1 win.

Action returns next weekend as the semi-finals will be decided.