EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
KO: You were given an incredible send off at
the National Senior Finals, were you expecting
that type of ovation by the boxing fans?
They say the second Title is the hardest, but the
third to the tenth were easy, it was the eleventh I
tripped up on (Egan jokes). So the Olympic Silver
and my first National Senior Title were definitely the
highs of my career.
The lowest was being beaten in 2011 when I was
going for my eleventh title. I was so used to being a
winner as I hadn’t been beaten in this country since
1998 after winning titles at all levels, not just my
Senior Titles. So getting beaten by Joe Ward gave
me a kick up the ass! That was definitely the
lowest.
Ken: Well, there’s maybe two handfuls of people
who have come to the Stadium to support me in the
National Finals going all the way back to when I
won my first title in 2001, so it was sweet to have
the same people there in 2013. They, along with
my coaches and family, have been with me right
throughout my journey to here and now.
I wasn’t expecting the standing ovation I got. I had
made my mind up in early January that I was going
to retire. No one knew about it, not my family, or
even my coaches. I’d had a long road and I had
achieved everything I had set out to do, so the time
was definitely right and I don’t regret retiring at all.
The ovation was amazing especially seeing the
kids there, some of who weren’t even born when I
won my first Senior Title, so it was good to know I
had given some joy to the Irish people over the
years. It’s something to win 10 Senior Titles but it’s
also very special to reach 13 Senior Finals.
KO: In regards to boxing, do you have any
regrets in regards to your career?
Ken: Regrets in boxing!!! I don’t really have any
regrets, no. It was a great privilege to put on the
Irish vest and be an ambassador for Ireland. I’ve
travelled the world representing my country and
bringing home medals to Ireland.
KO: You were part of the High Performance
Programme since it began, do you feel that
there could be improvements made within the
programme?
KO: You have reached the highs of boxing and
you have seen the lows of the game. What is
your best memory from your career and what
was your lowest?
Ken: I was there before the high performance
started. We used to be brought in at the weekends
to train for International tournaments, then for the
World Championships in 2001 in Belfast, we were
brought to Limerick for a four week training camp
so there was no full time coaching or anything put
in place till 2003.
Gary Keegan who was the director of boxing at the
time had a vision of what he wanted and I have to
say what an amazing vision, he put the high
Ken: Well the obvious one would be the Olympic
Silver medal. It was an amazing two weeks for me,
everything went perfect, even the training camp out
in Russia prior to the Games. I was high in
confidence and was boxing brilliantly, so that’s the
obvious choice. But to win my first senior title was
also very special, more so because I was the
underdog going into the fight and I was only 19
years of age.
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