If Walls Could Talk - Crumlin Boxing Club - Part 2

“Some fellas are afraid of nothing, and some fellas are afraid of getting a clatter. And some fellas are not afraid until they get a clatter! Then they realise.” We’re back with Part 2 of If Walls Could Talk, a special double episode of The Rocky Road with Philip Sutcliffe from Crumlin Boxing Club. Plug the imagination back in and let Sucko guide you around one of Ireland’s most successful schools of sport. There are stories about Crumlin fighters like Dean Byrne and Jamie Kavanagh, and a few about Katie Taylor who regularly dropped in for sparring down through the years. Philip tells us about his two Olympic Games as a young boxer, Moscow 1980 and Los Angeles 1984 (with a mix-up about his admittedly elegant green team blazer thrown in) and telling The Greates, Muhammad Ali, where to go – in true Dublin fashion – when the heavyweight icon called him a ‘leprechaun’ and asked him to sit on his lap. Conor McGregor, perhaps Crumlin’s most famous pupil, looms large over the building and you can hear Sutcliffe’s pride when speaking about his achievements in the Octagon and even in the ring. It’s not all about the superstar names though, and Philip is most animated when speaking about the boxing family, or when boxing breaks your heart when talented young fighters go down the wrong road towards crime and drugs. Luckily, more are saved than are lost, a source of obvious pride for the boxing people of Ireland. Finally, Crumlin BC has been a leader in the rolling-out of the High Five Boxing Academy for those with additional needs and, as ever, Sutcliffe is centrally involved, encouraging and cajoling and bringing out the best in people. 

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