Matthew McCole to trade leather with old foe in Ulster Elite final

Matthew McCole will face a familiar foe in his quest to win an Ulster Elite title on Friday night.

The Illies Golden Gloves southpaw will take on Jon McConnell in the 71kgs final.

At the Girdwood Community Hub in Belfast, Dungloe native McCole will be facing a hometown favourite in McConnell.

The light-middleweight decider will draw echoes from a humdinger of a contest between the pair in January 2023.

Then, McConnell edged out McCole on a 3-2 split decision at the Irish Elite Championships in Dublin.

A four-time Irish Colleges titlist, McCole will aim to overturn that defeat when he ducks through the ropes this week.

In November, McCole lost out to Holy Family’s Eugene McKeever in an Irish Elite semi.

Back in 2022, McCole won a bronze medal at the 2022 FISU University World Cup Combat Sports in Turkey.

McCole’s Illies Golden Gloves colleague Cahir Gormley will be in the 67kgs final. On Wednesday night, Gormley edged out Charles McDonagh in a semi-final and he will now face Nathan Richmond of Clonard.

Letterkenny native Jack Harkin will also take to the ring on Friday in the 54kgs final.

Harkin, who operates out of the Oakleaf Boxing Club in Derry, faces Matthew Boreland of Churchlands.

On Wednesday there was disappointment for Ballyshannon Boxing Club’s Alex McAleer, who was stopped in the opening round by JP Hale (Star) in the opening round of a 63.5kgs semi.