15-year-old Paige Nickels, from Dromara, won her seventh Irish title and eighth national title last Friday (19 September). Paige, who boxes out of Banbridge Boxing Club, was taking part in her 11th national final in Dublin and with this experience, she knows how to put on a show under the lights, entertaining the large crowd in attendance.
Paige was up against a talented boxer in Daisy Kiernan from Dealgan Boxing Club in the National U-17 Championship 54kg final. The current President of the Irish Athletic Boxing Association (IABA), Anto Donnelly, was in Daisy’s corner, so this was one to watch. With talent in the ring and titans in the corners, it was going to be a chess match as much as a boxing fight.
As the first round began, Paige got off to her normal high-pressure start, but was met with the same pressure and physicality, with neither boxer backing off. Within 30 seconds, coach Jason McKay called for Paige to switch to fast counters, using her reflexes to avoid and counter simultaneously. With round one 4-1 in favor of Paige, round two began with Daisy switching up, looking for the left hook and back hand, boxing with even more intensity and pressure. The judges awarded the round to Daisy, 3-2 on the cards.
Entering the final round, both corners felt it was all riding on this, and the pressure was on. With Jason McKay’s coaching eye sharp, changing his commands with perfect timing, getting Paige to set traps on the ropes and land heavy counters to deal with Daisy’s high pressure, Jason could feel victory was within Paige’s grasp. The final round went in favor of Paige (4-1) and her hand was raised with the decision, to the delight of head coach Jason, as the Dromara teenager won her eighth national title, showing why she is the current UK and Irish U-17 girls’ champion.
Paige is now up for Irish national team selection for the upcoming European Championships, which will be held in December in Germany. She will attend high-performance squad training in Dublin for the next few months.
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