Gary Ferry, 24 May
Local kickboxing champion Conal McBrearty carries a confidence that
most 20-year-olds would love, but winning three Irish titles in five
months has undoubtedly helped the Creggan fighter develop such an
engaging personality.
The force of Conal’s personality is inescapable; a bright-eyed,
optimistic and determined young man who somehow knows that he will be a
success in whatever he puts his mind to.
Last Friday night, Conal walked around the Brandywell at half time
during Derry City’s match with UCD, and he did not look out of place in
the limelight as he took in the applause from the City supporters.
Since entering Rath Mor Warriors at just 11 years of age, Conal has
developed a hunger and a belief that has taken him to extraordinary
heights these past few months, a brief period of time when all his hard
work has finally paid off.
Starting with the AKC Irish title in the Fir Trees in Strabane last
December, Conal won his first title in style.
“I was confident in all of them,” he recalls. “The first one, for the
AKC title, that went six rounds against a fighter with a very similar
style to me. It was just a clash of styles and both of us were exactly
the same. It was just like two trains clashing so for six rounds it was
back and forth.
“I started to see him slow down and that’s when I knew I had him. We
were going out for the sixth round and he was taking deep breaths and I
knew it was my time. Most of my training is based on having the better
stamina, and so I spent the round scoring and we knew we had it at the
end.”
The WKU All-Ireland title soon followed on March 25 on his doorstep in
the Everglades, winning that one with a second round TKO thanks to a
flash of style and skill.
“I used a jumping spinning back kick on his ribs and he couldn’t
continue after it,” he said. “The funny thing is, they always say to me
– don’t throw the jumping back kick because for ages I was terrible at
it, but I was drilling it constantly. Bruce Lee once quoted – “I don’t
fear the man who has practised 10,000 kicks, but I fear the man who has
practised one kick 10,000 times”. That was exactly the case here. I
landed it in the fourth round and stopped him.”
A third title, the ISKA Irish title was next up on April 29 in Kildare
and Conal was again incessant, winning unanimously on the judges’
scorecards. It just gets better and better for the Creggan youngster.
“It seems that everything has paid off after a full two years flat out
training,” he explained. “I’ve always trained but in the last two years
I’ve seen the goals in front of me and I managed to go out and achieve
them.
“I was always confident that I could win fights because I always
trained as if my very first fight was a world title fight and I’ve
always trained as if all my amateur fights were world title fights.
I’ve always had that determination; waking up at 6am to go out running
when everyone else is in bed. I have never wanted to lose. It’s not a
fear of losing, but more the ambition to win.
“Even now if I went in to fight a normal fight, it would feel just as
good. It’s nearly like an addiction. It’s an overwhelming thrill.”
Coach Mark Clifford was in no doubt that Conal would be successful
eventually.
“He’s very determined and very dedicate to his sport,” he said. “He
trains hard all the time, six days a week, twice a day. If you put the
dedication in you get the rewards and he has now. There was a build up
to this for a year before his first belt. We were travelling to England
and all over Ireland and we were fighting all over the place. The
opportunity came but we weren’t expecting three so close together, but
we just took them when we got the opportunity.”
Big things ahead
Sean McGill, Head Coach at Rath Mor Warriors, is thrilled with the
progress of one of his brightest students, but he is keen to ensure
that the next step is the right one for someone so young.
“He has a choice to defend the titles at the minute, but we’ve talked
about this and we’re looking for further goals than that because the
career doesn’t last long,” he stated.
“A 5-Nations tile would be perfect for the net fight, and then we would
be looking for a Commonwealth title or European title before we step
on. The big one then would hopefully be on our own show next year in
Sean Dolan’s. We want to bring it back to where he’s from in Creggan.
That’s the plan and after that we’ll sit down and talk about turning
pro. We want to do it right, rather than just jumping into things.”
For Conal, the scheduling side of things is in the hands of his
coaches. All he can do is ensure he gets better every single day.
“I think I just have a burning desire to keep going. A lot of people
don’t have that; 95% of people don’t have that,” he emphasised.
“I think it’s just down to hard work. I started in here 11 or 12 and I
had my first fight when I was 13. I used to be dying running out the
back roads of Creggan, but I just kept telling myself it would pay off.
This was at 13, so I’ve always had that burning desire to win, and it
hasn’t gone away.”