THE LIFFEY CRANE Hire National Senior Elite Boxing Championship finals will return to RTÉ’s screens for the first time since 2013 this Saturday, with the best female fighter to be awarded the newly-introduced Jimmy Magee Perpetual trophy in honour of the legendary RTÉ broadcaster who passed away last September aged 82.

At a press conference to announce the tournament’s title sponsor today, IABA president Dominic O’Rourke thanked Magee for his services to the sport in Ireland before expressing his excitement at the prospect of a finals night which could see 16 new Irish champions crowned for the first time in Irish amateur boxing history.

One of these potential breakouts is Dundalk native Amy Broadhurst, whose 60kg final versus 2016 World silver medalist Kellie Harrington could stake a claim as being potentially the most exhilarating of Saturday’s 17 finals.

The eventual lightweight champion will be an undoubted front-runner to become the inaugural recipient of the Magee-inspired award given the caliber of opposition either woman will have to overcome in order to have her hand raised this weekend.

Dealgan BC star Broadhurst, who also trains in London’s famous Islington BC, is a two-time European champion in her own right – winning gold at both Junior and Youth level – and holds a record 15 national underage titles.

She faces a tall order in Dubliner Harrington who has been earmarked by many as Katie Taylor’s Olympic successor in the women’s lightweight division, but isn’t perturbed by the magnitude of Saturday’s clash – be it on national television or otherwise.

“This is my first Elite final,” she said. “I’m only 20, so yeah, really excited to be fighting on RTÉ.

“Myself and Shauna O’Keefe [last year's semi], a few people said it was the best fight they’ve seen in the Stadium – especially female, as well. It was a good fight. Close fight as well! But it went her way. I couldn’t argue, really, so…

“I’ve fought in a bigger arena where there were a lot of people, but it didn’t look too packed. But the National Stadium, because it’s so small and packed in, it’ll look a lot bigger. I’ll have never experienced anything like it before.

“I’m the type of person where the bigger the opportunity or the task, the better I react.

“As a kid it was more geared towards the Olympics, but now when you have to win the Elites to get onto the Olympic team, you just want to win it.

This fight on Saturday is like a world final for me. I’m treating it like one of the biggest fights of my career so far. I’m really looking forward to it.

Amy Broadhurst with the late, great Jimmy Magee in 2016

‘Baby Canelo’ isn’t particularly bothered by her opponent, either, even if one might detect the embers of a rivalry burning between she and Harrington ahead of a fight which has been mooted for years.

There’s a case to be made that, given their respective pedigrees, this is the most tantalising all-Irish women’s clash ever to grace South Circular Road’s 79-year-old arena, but Broadhurst strikes as a fighter at peace with her ability and gameplan – particularly after sparring the formidable Harrington in 2016.

“I think if the judging is fair and the refereeing is fair, then if she beats me, well fair play to her,” says the 20-year-old. “Because she’s a great boxer herself, like.

“She’s world number two, European number two. But I’m also a European champion, so that makes for a great fight.

“And I do agree about it being a great fight: two really good boxers meet finally. People have spoken over the years that they wanted to see Amy Broadhurst and Katie Taylor, or Kellie Harrington and Katie Taylor. And now me and Kellie are meeting.

“I reckon it’ll be one of the most high-profile fights shown on RTÉ, anyway. You had Katie Taylor and Shauna O’Keefe a couple of years ago, but Shauna hadn’t won so much abroad to the same degree as myself or Kellie, which is what makes it an even better fight. And it [Taylor v O'Keefe] wasn’t on TV either.

“Kellie got what she deserved when she won a silver medal at the Worlds, because over the years she’s worked really hard. Now, the two of us have worked really hard, so it’s going to be a very exciting fight.

I sparred Kellie two years ago, and it was a very, very close spar. Personally, I thought I edged it: I boxed her, and it was a very, very clever spar. I thought I edged it, but people outside of the ring might not have thought so, or… Like, you don’t know what you really look like when you’re the one who’s actually in there, but in your head you think, ‘All right, I’ve done well there.’

Kellie Harrington consoles Shauna O'Keefe after last year's 60kg final Donall Farmer / INPHO Donall Farmer / INPHO / INPHO

“We have tactics coming into the fight now on Saturday”, Broadhurst adds, “so we’ve been practicing it in training for the last two months, because we knew there was a chance I was going to meet Kellie.

“If I would have won last year [vs O'Keefe], I would have met Kellie as well.

So she’s been a name floating around in my head for nearly two years, now, because I knew that eventually we would meet.

“But I don’t constantly look for her name or look at what she’s doing. I focus on what I’m doing myself. If she goes to the Europeans and wins, I’ll hear that. Or if she goes and wins a title somewhere in the world, I’ll hear that.”

Having fully recovered from a broken hand, Broadhurst will hope that her two fights in the National under-22 Championships will pay dividends where her first Senior final is concerned, with Harrington entering the contest comparably short on recent competitive action.

It promises to be a standout fight in a year which seems likely to birth Irish amateur boxing’s newest crop of stars, but IABA president Dominic O’Rourke was insistent that we not forget one of the staples of the past as the Seniors return to RTÉ for the first time in five years.

“This year is a sad year in one sense in that we haven’t got Jimmy Magee with us as such”, he said, “but in honour of his great name and wonderful work in boxing, we’re awarding the best female boxer the Jimmy Magee perpetual cup.

“That will keep his great name within the association for many a year to come, which is going to be brilliant to have.”

The Jimmy Magee Cup

Hugh Cahill will take the reins in the commentary booth with five-time National Senior Elite champion Eric Donovan on co-comms, while Andy Lee and Darren O’Neill will join Darragh Maloney in studio.

Coverage on RTÉ 2 begins at 7:30pm this Saturday.

2018 National Senior Elite Championships finals

National Stadium, Dublin, February 24th

48kg: Shannon Sweeney (St Anne’s) V Carol Coughlan (Monkstown D)
49kg: Ricky Nesbitt (Carrickmacross) V Conor Jordan (St Aidan’s)
51kg: Ceire Smith (Virginia/DCU) V Niamh Early (Ryston)
52kg: Conor Quinn (Clonard Antrim) W/O (walkover)
54kg: Lauren Hogan (St Brigid’s, Edenderry) V Amanda Loughlin (St Michael’s, Dublin)
56kg: Evan Metcalfe (Hyland Academy) V Thomas McCarthy (Setanta)
57kg: Dervla Duffy (Mulhuddart) V Michaela Walsh (Monkstown, Antrim)
60kg: George Bates (St Mary’s Dublin) v Francis Cleary (Ballina)
60kg: Amy Broadhurst (Dealgan) V Kellie Harrington (St Mary’s, Dublin)
64kg: Joanne Lambe (Carrickmacross) W/O
64kg: Wayne Kelly (Portlaoise) V Caoimhín Ferguson (Clonard, Antrim)
69kg: Kieran Molloy (Oughterard) V Eugene McKeever (Holy Family, Drogheda)
69kg: Gráinne Walsh (Sparticus) V Ciara Ginty (Geesala)
75kg: Aoife Burke (St Mary’s, Dublin) V Christina Desmond (Fr. Horgans)
75kg: Brett McGinty (Oakleaf) V Michael Nevin (Portlaoise)
81kg: Aoife O’Rourke (Castlerea) W/O
81kg: Brian Kennedy (St Mary’s, Daingean) V Caomhín Hynes (Holy Trinity)
81+kg: Lisa Browne (Aglish) V Nell Fox (Rathkeale)
91kg: Kevin Sheehy (St Francis) V Kiril Afanasev (Smithfield)
91+kg: Dean Gardiner (Clonmel) V Martin Keenan (Rathkeale)