FeaturesHeadline NewsNewsSocial Media

The Wayne McCullough Performance of the Year – The Irish-Boxing.com Awards 2019


Irish boxers have gone above and beyond in 2010 with some special performances.

Away from home, against the odds, our boxers have risen to the occasion on numerous occasions.

We recognise SIX of these in the Performance of the Year category.

This award is named after Wayne McCullough who sensationally went to Japan in 1995 to dethrone WBC bantam champ Yasuei Yakushiji, becoming the first British or Irish fighter to win a world title fight in the Land of the Rising Sun.

Voting is limited to ONE VOTE per IP address.

Performance of the Year

Jay Byrne (v Marc Kerr)
The Loughlinstown road warrior successfully defended his BBBoC Celtic light middleweight title on foreign soil again. Faced with the skilful Stefan Sanderson, Byrne was too smart and fought his way to a deserved majority decision win in Scotland.

Anto Cacace (v Sam Bowen)
The Andersonstown southpaw finally came good, claiming the British title with a complete performance against the reigning champ. Landing heavy shots early on and boxing smart, Cacace would pull away down the stretch to get the win his talent deserves.

Dennis Hogan (v Jaime Munguia)
The Kilcullen light middleweight really should be a world champion. Against overwhelming odds, Hogan outboxed and outfought the far larger Mexican in Mexico but was denied by some awful scorecards. Taking Munguia out of his rhythm and even stunning the champ late on, Hogan deserved far more.

Luke Keeler (v Luis Arias)
Stepping up, the Ballyfermot middle announced himself to the world scene with a stunning win over the Cubano-American in Belfast. Dropping Arias both early and late, Keeler upset the odds and moved into position for his shot at Demetrius Andrade at the end of next month.

Tommy McCarthy (v Fabio Turchi)
The Lenadoon big man transformed his career with a major win on away soil. In do-or-die territory, McCarthy showed plenty of skill, tactics, and bags of grit to outpoint the Italian home favourite in Trento and pick up the WBC International title.

Tyrone McKenna (v Mikey Sakyi)
The Lenadoon light welter finally boxed to plan in the quarter-finals of the Golden Contract. Having spent the last few years engaged in wars, it was more considered in London last month with McKenna keeping Sakyi at the end of his long southpaw jab en-route to a dominant points win.

[yop_poll id=”6″]

You can vote in the earlier polls below:

The Alejandro Gonzalez Jr Opponent of the Year

The Sean Mannion Gallant Defeat of the Year

Pro Debut of the Year

dpg

Joe O'Neill

Reporting on Irish boxing the past five years. Work has appeared on irish-boxing.com, Boxing News, the42.ie, and local and national media. Provide live ringside updates, occasional interviews, and special features on the future of Irish boxing. email: joneill6@tcd.ie

x