Ward to face Olympic silver medalist Egan in eagerly awaited boxing showdown

MOATE boxing sensation Joe Ward faces the most mouthwatering challenge of his budding career when he faces ten-time national senior champion and Olympic silver medalist Kenny Egan in the light-heavyweight division final of the Elite National Senior Boxing Championships on Friday evening. Ward, just 17, secured a place in the final with an emphatic 8-2 victory over Davey Joe Joyce of Athy in last weekend's semi-finals. The Moate man now faces the daunting prospect of taking on Egan, who is highly fancied to retain his title and notch up a staggering 11th straight national senior title. Ward, the current AIBA World youth champion, faces a mammoth task against Egan, who himself secured a place in the light-heavyweight decider by defeating Sligo's Thomas Roohan, and is one of the world's most renowned amateur boxers. Following his victory last Saturday night, Ward said: "The way I see it everyone is beatable and hopefully I will come out on the right side of it. You have to give Kenny respect, he's 10 times senior champion," said Ward following his victory last Saturday night. Ward this week told a national newspaper he has sparred with Egan in the High Performance Programme, and is believes it will be an "exciting fight" on Friday. "Kenny Egan has been number one for the past ten years so it will be great to go in there and have a good fight with him. I am only 17 years of age but I have a lot of power and that's what brings me through these fights," said the Moate teenager. Meanwhile, Athlone Boxing Club will also be represented during the weekend's finals line-up, with Nigerian-born Kenneth Okungbowa competing in the super-heavyweight final against reigning champion and European Union silver medalist Cathal McMonagle (Holy Trinity Boxing Club, Belfast). Okungbowa progressed to the final after a tense semi-final against Tommy Sheahan from Athy. Trailing early on against Sheehan, the Athlone boxer went into round two with a changed game-plan, and very much on the offensive. Eventually, Okungbowa felled his opponent in the corner and the referee counted him out. Unfortunately, Joe Ward's club-mate at Moate, Gary Molloy, has fallen short in his attempt to retain his flyweight title, crashing out in the semi-finals following a 10-5 loss to Belfast's Michael Conlon, who beat Olympic Youth champion Ryan Burnett the previous weekend. Conlon now faces Christopher Phelan in the flyweight final. Ward and Okungbowa's hopes of bringing gold medals back to the Midlands continues at the National Boxing Stadium on Friday evening, with a total of eleven finals taking place from 7.45pm, as the national boxing association celebrates its 100-year anniversary. Meanwhile, Athlone female boxer Cheyanne O'Neill will contest the Girl 4 (60kgs) Leinster final next Saturday, after a semi-final victory over a Kilkenny opponent. O'Neill will now meet another Athy boxer in her quest for her first boxing title. King Kenny tipped to retain title Paddy Power have made Olympic Silver medalist Kenneth Egan their red-hot 1/5 favourite to be crowned All-Ireland Senior champion for a record breaking eleventh year in row. The Clondalkin southpaw will meet Moate man Joe Ward, who is twelve years his junior, in the light heavyweight final at The National Stadium, on the South Circular Road in Dublin on Friday night. Despite securing a clear-cut victory in last Saturday's semi-final against Davey Joe Joyce, Ward will need to pull out all the stops to overcome the seemingly unstoppable Egan. Paddy Power said: "If you could get points for talking the talk then Ward would definitely be racking them up, but come Friday night he'll have walk the walk and box very clever if he wants to beat King Kenny."