Murphy hopeful brilliant season will lead to World Youth Championship selection 

St. Brigid’s Boxing Club’s Sarah Murphy will be hoping to cap her most successful year so far by representing Ireland in next month’s IBA World Youth Championships in Budva, Montenegro.

The 17-year-old competitor from Kildare Town recently won the National Under 18 Championship 70kg title for the second time in eight months when she edged out Jodie Byrne from Enniskerry in the decider in the National Stadium just over a week ago.

That win has propelled her on to the National High Performance panel and sees her well in the reckoning for a place on the Irish squad that will travel to the World Youth Championships, which run from October 20th to November 6th.

For Murphy, who competed at the 2022 European Junior Championships in Italy where she was beaten by home boxer, Amina Golinelli in the quarter finals, the prospect of lining out on the World Youth stage will depend largely on whether the IABA opt to send a full squad to the tournament.

Murphy is certainly keeping her fingers crossed in the hope of getting the nod from the association, telling the Kildare Nationalist “For me, representing Ireland at the World Championships would be a dream.

“Even to make it to the Worlds, whether I medal or not, would be a massive opportunity and great life lesson as well.

“It will show me who the other boxers are out there in the world. We know who’s out there in Europe at the minute, but I couldn’t tell you what’s in the rest of the world” she admitted.

Murphy is hopeful that selection for this year’s World Championships will give her that necessary insight into top global competition, and the Kildare boxer has certainly earned the right to represent her country at that level.

A six-time national champion, Murphy has scooped half of those titles in 2024, starting with the initial National Under 18 Championships back in January.

There she recorded a 5-0 triumph over Jodie Byrne to complete her march to the title at only 16 years of age.

That was followed by the National Junior Two Championship honour in April, which was secured following another unanimous decision in the title fight, this time against Sienna Sullivan of Connemara BC.

The IABA then opted to run a second National Under 18 competition as a means to determining the in-form boxers as part of their World Youth Championship selection process.

It meant Murphy needed a repeat of her exploits in January if she was to copper-fasten her position as the country’s Number One Under 18 70kg competitor, and she certainly rose to the challenge.

A convincing win over Caoilfhionn Grant Moloney of Togher BC set her up for a re-match with Jodie Byrne who was looking to avenge her loss to Murphy at the start of the year.

Indeed, the Enniskerry fighter certainly put it up to the defending champion, winning the opening round, only to lose the next two and fall short on a 3-2 split decision.

“That was a very close fight against Jodie” admitted Murphy. “She’s a very strong boxer.

“I went away to the European Juniors with her in 2022, so I knew her from then.

“She hasn’t changed her style since then, but it was a very tough fight. I’m moving up to 70kg, while she would have been dropping to 70kg.

“She’s taller than me as well, so trying to find that range in the first round was a bit tricky, but once I found that, I had no problem working on the inside.

“You need tough fights and good opponents like her when you’re coming into international competitions, especially something as big as the World Championships.

“They’re the type of fights you learn more from. Even if I had lost it, it would have been the type of fight I would have learnt from. It’s all about experience” she insisted.

Murphy’s impressive form coming into 2024 suggested a big year would lie ahead for her.

The Kildare boxer, who has a great team around her in St. Brigid’s, including head coach, Paddy Phelan and her own father, Wes, carded some big results last season.

Indeed she chalked up two wins over European Junior champion, Sara Scorrano from Italy when she travelled to Sicily with the Leinster team in June of last year.

On top of that, she recorded a big victory over American champion, Savanah Jackson as part of the St. Brigid’s squad that travelled to Washington to face an American select team the following November.

Having now enjoyed her most prolific season in national championship boxing, Murphy has every reason to be brimming with confidence especially with the prospect of World Championship competition on the horizon.

“Coming up to the Worlds, I’ll be pushing my body to limits I’ve never known before” predicted Murphy.

“I’ve been boxing since I was five, so I’ve been training and working hard for the likes of these competitions from a very young age.

“I’m just so happy that all my hard work is finally paying off and getting me somewhere” she said.