Ulster Boxing Council to honour Donegal quartet

Four Donegal men will be honoured by the Ulster Boxing Council next Thursday night.

The Ulster Elite finals will be held at the iconic Guildhall in Derry and Donegal will see four of its finest proponents of the sweet science celebrated.

Danny Ryan, Jason Quigley, William McLaughlin and Eddie Harkin will all be lauded on the night.

Raphoe ABC star Ryan won the Irish middleweight crown in 1993, defeating Moat’s four-time Irish kingpin Denis Galvin.

Former Donegal manager Jim McGuinness graduates with Uefa Pro Licence

The 20 latest graduates from the FAI Coach Education Department's Uefa Pro Licence course were presented with their certificate course Diploma at a graduation ceremony at the Dublin Airport Carlton Hotel

Ryan was the Ulster Elite champion in 1992, 1993 and 1994 and competed at the Commonwealth Games in Canada in 1994 having also fought at the World Championships in Finland the previous year.

Ryan, a Celtic Games gold medalist in 1990, turned to the paid ranks and retired with a 10-3-2 record.

As an amateur, Quigley was ranked as the number one middleweight in the world in 2013, when he became the first Irish male boxer to fight in a world final.

The Finn Valley ABC puncher rose to real prominence when winning Gold at the 2013 European Championships in Minsk, overcoming Bogdan Juratoni in the final, having beaten the defending world champion, Ievgen Khytrov, in the final.

As an amateur, the Ballybofey man was ranked as the number one middleweight in the world in 2013, when he became the first Irish male boxer to fight in a world final. Jason rose to real prominence when winning Gold at the 2013 European Championships in Minsk, overcoming Bogdan Juratoni in the final, having beaten the defending world champion, Ievgen Khytrov, in the final.

After turning over to the professional ranks in 2014, joining with the world famous Golden Boy Promotions in Los Angeles, he won the North American middleweight title four years later and in May 2021, he defeated Shane Mosley junior to land the NABO middleweight strap

Last November, Quigley fought for the WBO world middleweight title but was stopped by Demetrius Andrade in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Quigley remains an active boxer with a comeback expected in 2023.

Illies Golden Gloves’ McLaughlin scooped a silver medal at the 2009 European Union Championships in Odense, Denmark.

McLaughlin was pipped to gold by Hungary’s Balaza Bacskai in the final.

McLaughlin reached the quarter-finals of the the World Elite Championships in 2009, beaten 16-7 by Russian southpaw Andrey Zamkovoy at the Mediolanum Forum in Milan.

The same year, McLaughlin won the Irish Elite welterweight crown when he defeated Cathal McCauley from Dungloe in the only all-Donegal Elite final.

Harkin has been the head coach at the Dunfanaghy Boxing Club for over 40 years now.

He has been assisted by Joe Harkin, Martin McDonagh, Gary McBride and Eamonn Harkin over the years, but Eddie Harkin remains the heartbeat.

Dunfanaghy ABC has won 30 Irish titles and Harkin has been in the corner for most of those triumphs.