Top 5 Irish Boxers

1. Andy Lee
Lee from Co. Limerick was a brilliant amateur, representing Ireland in the Sydney Olympics before turning professional in 2006. He moved to the US to train in the legendary Kronk gym in Detroit and is managed by Emanuel Steward. The highly touted prospect has been praised and tipped as a future world champion by many people in the know, and watching this 6"2' southpaw in action, it is easy to see why. He possess fantastic boxing ability and devastating power in both hands which is evident in his record of 13 KO's out of 17 fights and one solitary loss. With all Andy's skill there is no reason to doubt that he will be a future middleweight champion and for all the above reasons he is top of my list of the best Irish boxers.

2. Bernard Dunne
Bernard Dunne, the 28 year old super bantamweight boxer from Dublin was a stand out amateur boxer winning 11 Irish amateur titles. He turned pro in 2001 and has racked up an impressive record of 25 wins out of his 26 bouts. He won the EBU super bantamweight belt in 2006 beating Englishman Esham Pickering in convincing fashion. His only loss came in 2007 when he faced Spaniard Kiko Martinez in a mandatory defense of his title. Dunne was shockingly KO'd in the first round of his third defense of the title. Bernard went on to win his next 3 fights and now has a world title shot against WBA champ Ricardo Cordoba on March 21st. Bernard has undeniable boxing skill and has an excellent jab and a devastating left hook to the body which he uses to great effect to KO his opponents. His pure talent puts him in 2nd place in the list.

3. Paul McCloskey
Paul McCloskey the 29 year old southpaw from Dungiven was a 3 time Irish champion and a 5 time senior Ulster champion in the amateurs and since turning professional in 2005 has kept up his winning ways with a perfect winning record of 18 wins out of 18 fights. He won the IBF International welterweight title in 2007, beating the Olympic silver medalist Tontcho Tontchev from Bulgaria. McCloskey has an smooth southpaw style which together with his excellent reflexes and head movement, make him a hard target to hit. In December 2008, McCloskey was chosen as a late replacement to challenge British Champion Colin Lynes. Lynes being a technically gifted boxer and former EBU champion, was favourite to win this fight but despite this McCloskey showed is class and used his awkward southpaw style to win the belt when Lynes retired after round 7. His style, dedication and confidence in the ring places him in 3rd place on my list.

4. John Duddy
John Duddy, the 29 year old from Derry turned pro in 2003. The majority of his fights have been in the US where he has a big fanbase. Duddy has a perfect record of 26-0 with 17 KO's, all these fights were fought at middleweight. He has an agressive style and uses a patented array of punches to overwehlm his opponents. His lack of movement and defense puts him at risk and often see him unable to avoid punches which have resulted in controversial wins in his fights against Yori Boy Campus in 2006 and Brian Vera in 2008. Despite his perfect record, Duddy is 4th in my list due to his poor defense, saying that however, this seems to be the only chink in his armour and if he could overcome this he could well be in the number 1 or 2 spot,as he has everything else going for him; speed, punching power, boxing ability, etc. He has recently moved down to light middleweight, so it remains to be seen how he fares in this devision.

5. Matthew Mackiln
Matthew Macklin, although British, has Irish roots and is a former Irish middleweight title holder. Macklin turned pro in 2001 and has a record of 24 wins and two loses with 16 KO's. Macklin has a lot of talent, punching power and excellent boxing skills. He fights at light middleweight and in 2008 fought Yori Boy Campus, beating him a lot more convincingly than John Duddy had previously. Although a lot of people compare Mackiln and Duddy and believe Mackiln would come out on top if they ever fought, I believe Duddy is the better boxer of the two, so for this reason I put Duddy one spot above Mackiln, but at still just 26 years old, Matthew could easily eclipse Duddy in the future.