National U-22 boxing title for Offaly man

A TALENTED Offaly boxer has won a national title. 20 year old Pullough man Paul Loonam boxed his heart out as he won the National U-22 championship in Dublin's National Stadium last weekend.

A member of St Carthage's Boxing Club in Rahan, Loonam was in excellent form at the championships over the last couple of weeks – he won his quarter-final, semi-final and final on unanimous points decisions, beating Killian Geraghty from Crumlin Boxing Club in Dublin in the final.

Loonam has ben boxing since nine years of age and this was his second Irish title. He won a schoolboys one in 2015, going to the European Championship the same year.

He is expected to be selected for this year's European Championships, which take place in Croatia in March. He is busy preparing with the High Performance Unit in Dublin at the moment. He comes from a proud boxing family and is coached by his father, also Paul and uncle, Kevin Loonam.