Citizen O'Kane

Eamonn O’Kane took part in the toughest era of Irish middleweights, going up against the likes of John Duddy, Darren Sutherland, Andy Lee and Jason Quigley on the domestic front while battling fighters such as George Groves, James DeGale and Andre Dirrell while representing Ireland. He won European bronze in 2008, joining modern greats Oleksandr Usyk and Vasyl Lomachenko as a medal winner at the tournament in Liverpool. After winning Commonwealth Games gold in India in 2010, captaining a Northern Ireland side with up-and-coming stars Michael Conlan and Paddy Barnes in the ranks, he went professional – joining a rising tide of Irish boxing which was spearheaded by his friend and role model (and fellow Dungiven fighter) Paul McCloskey and ultimately taken over by Beflast favourite Carl Frampton. A horror jeep crash in 2011 stalled his progress but, after losing consciousness for 45 minutes and suffering a host of injuries, he was likely saved from further damage because of his superb conditioning as a boxer. ‘King Kane’, as he would become known, won an all-Irish Prizefighter event at the Kings Hall in 2012 with an effective marauding style built on solid fundamentals, brute strength and a willingness to do whatever it took to win. A defeat to John Ryder later that year was another setback but O’Kane stayed with it, bounced back, and began to accumulate belts, from the Irish crown to a host of ranking titles. His last outing saw him put on a staggering display of bravery in New York. Dropped twice in the first round by Tureano Johnson at Madison Square Garden, he bit down on the gumshield and finished the full 12 rounds. Afterwards, O’Kane had to visit the hospital after losing several kilos in body weight, having pushed himself to the very limits on the night. A comeback was arranged against Gary ‘Spike’ O’Sullivan but Eamonn knew he had done enough in the toughest of sports and instead opted to hang up his gloves. During Covid times, he went from middleweight to midwife when he was called upon to deliver his daughter at home when the ambulance was unable to make it on time. Now working in the concrete business, O’Kane, with customary modest, asked ‘what would you want to interview me for?’ when approached by The Rocky Road, but his is an exceptional boxing and life story, which becomes obvious as soon as he begins to look back…

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