Moylette hungry to regain his national title

THINGS have changed for Ray Moylette in the past few years. The former European and world youth champion has left the High Peformance Unit and opened a new gym, Sting Ray Fitness Academy, in Westport. Other things have remained the same, though. As he prepares for his fourth elite final in the National Stadium this evening, it’s once again Moylette’s (right) bout that looks the most exciting. Last January, Dean Walsh, nephew of former Irish head coach Billy, took the 64kg title on a split decision from Mayo native Moylette. The 25-year-old has had some time to reflect on the narrow defeat, but he insists that vengence isn’t on his mind. ‘I don’t call it revenge, because that implies you hate someone. I don’t hate Dean. He is just an obstacle in my way, stopping me realising my goal. It wouldn’t matter if it was Dean Walsh or Michael D Higgins who was standing in my way, I would want to beat them to ensure I became national champion again. ‘This is about realising my dream and I am just mad to get into the ring and regain the title.’ It’s four years since Moylette won the European lightwelterweight crown but he feels that he has developed as a boxer in that time — even if he’s had injury woes in recent years. ‘I’m a more developed and more rounded boxer now than when I won the European title,’ he explains. ‘I am not in the High Performance Unit at the moment, and I am relying on the gym for my livelihood. ‘It means that, win or lose against Dean, I will be back to work on Monday morning. ‘But I feel I will be back as champion. The last time I fought Dean, it was very close and it could have gone either way. But this time it will be a different result. When I was beaten in January, I carried that burden with me for some time. I had regrets but I am going to make sure there are no regrets this time.’ Moylette accepts his style means that he is a fighter that people want to see. ‘The way I box, people either support me or are against me. But I can feed off that energy and that is what I plan to do.’ Meanwhile, Portlaoise middleweight Michael O’Reilly will be aiming to put the disappointment of narrowly failing to secure Olympic qualification at the worlds behind him when he defends his national title against Newry’s Conor Wallace in what should be a thriller.

NATIONAL ELITE CHAMPIONSHIPS FINALS: 49kg: Stephen McKenna v Regan Buckley 52kg: TJ Waite v Brendan Irvine 56kg: Myles Casey v Kurt Walker 60kg: David Oliver Joyce v Sean McComb 64kg: Dean Walsh v Ray Moylette 69kg: Adam Nolan v Martin Stokes 75kg: Michael O’Reilly v Conor Wallace 81kg: Christopher Blaney v JP Delaney 91kg: Darren O’Neill v Bernard O’Reilly 91+kg: Thomas Carty v Dean Gardiner.