*Louis Griffin.
NORTH CLARE champion boxer Louis Griffin is eyeing up a 2028 Olympics bid.
It’s been a busy spell for Ennistymon man Louis Griffin. Fresh from his U18 All Ireland win, the light welterweight is now returning from internationals in Poland as he strives to maintain his tremendous run of form. The young boxer says it’s a busy schedule, balancing training full time as an amateur boxer with his fifth year studies in Ennistymon Community School, although he still finds time to line out in black and white for Ennistymon in football.
Indeed he was part of the Ennistymon CS panel crowed Munster C football champions on Friday.
Louis is confident without exuding a sense of arrogance, he thanks his parents and trainers as his greatest supporters. He particularly acknowledges his parents’ efforts in helping him on the four hour round trip up and down to Portlaoise three times a week, the club he now boxes out of.
While he still helps out his old club Kilfenora coaching underage, Griffin believes the move was a necessity citing decisions that didn’t go his way and fights he should have won as contributing factors. He now finds great camaraderie in Portlaoise as he hones his skills in the ring against the multiple European champions there who share his weight class, “They’re all nice as well like, so that helps”.
On his recent win, Griffin says “It felt amazing because 63.5kg welterweight was the most popular weight in the entire U18 competition. I think there was something like 21 entries”. When talking about the bouts on road to the final, he recalled, “I won them all clearly” before joking that he doesn’t want to seem too over-confident, something others his age would certainly be prone to.
He said that he “went the distance” in the final against Patrick Kelly of Wexford, a worthy opponent he has met four times previously in Irish finals with the pair’s record tied at 2 wins a piece. His current coach Pat Ryan was very impressed with his performance in the final, saying “It was a tough fight against Kelly, but for me, there was only ever going to be one winner”.
During the fight, Griffin succeeded in keeping Kelly at a middle distance while still maintaining an aggressive profile with Ryan saying “Louis loves a tear up as well and he’s well able for that. He did very well defensively and it was a great win”.
Next on the horizon for three time national and seven time international box cup champion is the ominously looming Leaving Certificate examinations and countless hours to be spent sharpening his skills on the canvas in Portlaoise, but for the moment Griffin says he is 100% focused on the representing Ireland at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
