Cork boxing legend Kieran Joyce aims to bring Sunnyside club back to the top

KIERAN Joyce the lionhearted boxing icon from Fairhill proudly stands today amongst Cork’s all-time sporting greats.  

In amateur boxing circles, the name of Kieran Joyce is revered throughout the island of Ireland.

He has left a legacy for many, which will become part of boxing folklore. The great hurler Christy Ring could draw big crowds to see him play in any type of competition. Equally, Joyce could fill the National Stadium on his own. Joyce brought power and ion to the ring, allied to this he was fearless and always displayed an indomitable spirit.

Particularly in the National Stadium, when Joyce entered the ring, there was always a racket to welcome him. The Dubs loved the Cork boxer, and as Jimmy Magee famously once said: "That’s the bell for the first round and from here on it will be fireworks all the way."

Today Kieran Joyce is the president of the Sunnyside BC, Cork’s most successful club of all time.

"This club is now nearly 100 years old, and we must get back to where we were, as the top club in Cork. We now have a very hard-working committee, we have a structure in the club, and we have the boxing enthusiasm, which will ensure that slowly Sunnyside once again will produce Senior, Elite and International boxers."

Joyce was born on Fairhill in 1964. At around nine years old Kieran was introduced to boxing by a neighbour, the late Mossy O’Callaghan.

O’Callaghan was a prominent member of the Sunnyside Boxing Club. As a youngster, O’Callaghan was himself introduced to the sport by the monks in Blarney Street, Presentation Brother School. 

Here the brothers introduced their students to two sports only boxing and basketball. They encouraged any potential boxer to Sunnyside. For many of these early years in the Club`s history, Sunnyside existed on the proceeds of two church gate collections, at the North Chapel and St Mary's Dominican Church on Popes Quay. Sunnyside also generated money by putting on Christmas pantomimes in the Rockstep's School, and up in the North Monastery, where Brother Keating created a Cinema Auditorium.

BREAKTHROUGH

The big breakthrough for the Sunnyside Club came in 1946 when the great Tommy Hyde won their first Senior National title. Sunnyside were established in 1927 and Hyde’s success was major news in Cork. 

Mossy O’Callaghan had encouraged many young lads to the famous club. In 1964, while he did not know it at the time, O’Callaghan was about to introduce a youngster who would go on to become Cork’s greatest and most successful boxer.

Young Joyce took to the sport of boxing with great gusto. He blazed a trail and won many All-Ireland titles, up to 16. Joyce paid a great tribute to his mother and father who encouraged him all the way.

However, it was the club coach Albie Murphy who was charting his pathway to senior success. In 1982, Joyce won an U18 national title.

Around that time, the Irish team was due to take on the USA, who had a world-class welterweight in Joe Walker. No Irish boxer was prepared to take him on. Murphy saw an opening and put Joyce’s name forward. 

Joyce defeated Joe Walker against all the odds, and for the rest of his career, Joyce was selected on every international team, representing the country all over the world.

Joyce won a Cork record of six National Elite titles. He represented Ireland at over 100 internationals. 

He won a European Bronze Medal in 1983 and Joyce participated in two Olympiads, in Los Angeles in 1984, and Seoul in 1988, where following a controversial split decision lost out on an Olympic bronze. 

In 2014, Cork Boxing celebrated the centenary of the establishment of the Cork County Boxing Board and at a dinner before 300 guests, Joyce was unanimously selected as the Cork Boxer of the Century.

Joyce said among his greatest boxing memories was taking on boxers from Cuba, Russia and America. He also recalled the famous Cork fight at a packed Glen Rovers Hall in the '80s when he defeated the future world champion Steve Collins. 

THE BEST

Joyce said boxing can be a lonely sport, it's 365 days a year, but he reflected on the great friendships he made in the sport.

Joyce retired before his 24th birthday having travelled the world, where he fought the best.

Now 40 years ago, in 1984, he went to his first Olympic Games in Los Angeles and became a Cork sporting hero on the world stage. Joyce was a demi-god in the National Stadium, and now he is back at the coalface of Cork boxing to do his bit to guide that great Cork boxing institution, Sunnyside back to its halcyon days.