An emerging Irish talent with a strong Laois connection has joined the professional boxing ranks, with some of the sport’s biggest figures behind him.
20-year-old Mayo native, Eoghan Lavin, will be surrounded by names including Anthony Joshua, Anthony Crolla, and Frank Warren.
Eoghan’s mother, Susan McDonald, is a Laois Woman, originally from Timahoe.
“I up here now (in Mayo) nearly 24 years,” Susan told LaoisToday. “We come back (to Laois) as much as we can, I suppose Timahoe will always be home.”
Susan is massively supportive of Eoghan’s career, and remembers fondly her son’s first foray into boxing:
“Eoghan has been boxing since he was six or seven when he went with his older brother,” she said.
“He was just tagging along, but he took to it straight away.
“He started boxing competitively at 11 and now he has nine Irish titles and European silver medal (won in 2017).
“He was on the Irish team four years in a row, he’s captained the team, and he’s been all over Europe with them.
“He’s won gold in New York and gold in England on several occasions.”
The family did not rush into the decision to go pro, but Susan feels they have made the right move.
“His aim had been to the Olympics, but when covid struck, he missed out on all the big qualifiers for his age group.
“When he was 18 he had three offers to go pro – two in England and one in America.
“We had said no, and he had said no himself – he didn’t feel ready.”
The maturity, it seems, has paid off, as Eoghan has joined a team of huge status and calibre.
The young middleweight will be co-managed by two time heavyweight world champion, Anthony Joshua’s management company, ‘258 MGT‘ and David McGinley Sport.
He will be relocating to England, where he will be trained former world champion Anthony Crolla at his Manchester-based gym.
“This has been in the pipeline for almost a year now,” Susan said.
“David McGinley had been scouting for the promoters in England, and they were interested in Eoghan.
“There’s been a lot of meetings and discussions and paperwork over and back, and legal work; and they’ve come up with a fantastic team.
“He has really gotten the backing of the best that’s out there.”
Eoghan has signed a multi-year promotional contract with Frank Warren of Queensberry Promotions, which makes him the first-ever Joshua-managed fighter to be promoted Warren.
His fights will be shown on TNT Sports and his debut bout is expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
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