Christmas cancelled for Kelyn Cassidy as Irish Elite light-heavyweight champion aims for Olympic place at Paris 2024

CHRISTMAS is cancelled for Kelyn Cassidy — whose bid to become an Olympian starts now.

The Waterford ace cemented his spot as Ireland’s top light-heavyweight by securing a three in a row of Irish titles in Dublin on Saturday night.

Kelyn Cassidy of Saviours Crystal Boxing Club, Waterford, celebrates victory over Gabriel Dossen of Olympic Boxing Club, Galway

Gabriel Dossen and Kelyn Cassidy in action during their light heavyweight 80kg final bout at the IABA National Elite Boxing Championships 2024 Finals

Cassidy, 26, had to do it the hard way, beating one of his best pals in Galway puncher Gabriel Dossen.

Dossen, a two-time Elite middleweight champ with a European gold to his name, had entered the 80kg ranks after his 75kg class was left off the Olympic roster.

The winner here was a cert to make the team for a world qualifying tournament in Italy at the end of February — and Cassidy claimed it with both hands.

It was a left that dropped Dossen in the first, while his right hook looked dangerous for the duration of their ferocious three-round battle.

After the verdict, the pair embraced in the ring as the magnitude of the result sank in.

Cassidy told SunSport: “Christmas is cancelled — the bigger picture is the Olympic Games.

“If I want anything out of boxing, I just want to be an Olympian.

“I want to put everything I can in place to be an Olympian.

“I’m really emotional. I’m boxing one of my best mates there, we’ve boxed on the Irish team together for years. All credit to Gabriel, a class operator.

“But at the end of the day, you have to forget feelings in the ring. Look, he pushed me right to the wire.

“I had to pull all my tricks out of the bag to beat him.”

The knockdown gave Cassidy momentum and while Dossen came on strong, particularly in the third, the Déise warrior was able to land enough to stay ahead.

He added: “My left hand is my strongest hand. It’s good to get the result. I knew I needed a good win here to definitely get the weight.

“We’re like brothers, so that’s why it’s emotional. You see at the end we just stood there holding each other for a while because, look, we’re really good mates.

“And I know it’s sport and you can’t be mates in there but I’ll catch up with Gabriel after this and I’ll meet him for a drink or whatever. Nothing but respect for him.”

Their battle was arguably the most anticipated bout of the night, along with the featherweight decider that saw Jude Gallagher beat Adam Hession.

Cassidy lapped it up, adding: “This is the fight that everybody wanted to see. I went on social media for an hour in the morning and it was the talk of social media — Gabriel Dossen and Kelyn Cassidy. People have been posting bits of our sparring and everything.

“These are the big fights you want to be in.

“You remember the fights like when Darren O’Neill fought Darren Sutherland and the buzz around it.”

Cassidy has reached the quarter-finals of the World Championships and European Games, slipping to tight defeats when wins would have landed him on the podium.

He added: “I just got some tough draws. I got a tough draw at the European Games, had two good wins, and in the fight to qualify I end up meeting Oleksandr Khyzhniak of Ukraine.

The Olympic silver medallist and should be gold medallist only he was knocked out when he was 2-0 up in the third round.

“I only got beaten on a countback. But you can’t let these things set you back, you’ve got to enjoy them and move on.”