Irish Golden Gloves winner Thomas Hardwick to fight this weekend

Dublin native Thomas Hardwick, 25, is the first native Irish fighter to win a New York Daily News Golden Gloves title and this coming weekend he hopes to repeat the same performance against Earl Newman Jr, 19, in a rematch of their Golden Glove fight.

Hardwick will appear on an October 30 show at Gleason’s Gym in Brooklyn, New York. 

Also on the fight card is Andrew Cleary, a former Co. Kildare jockey, making his amateur debut.

Hardwick didn’t set out to woo New Yorkers with his fast punches and sharp moves but he took to the ring like a duck to water and in a short few months has made a name for himself in the amateur boxing ranks in New York City.

Hardwick, from Coolock, Co. Dublin, has been training night and day for his fight. 

The Golden Gloves has been a stepping stone to professional boxing careers for many amateur boxers.

Former National Golden Gloves champions include Muhammad Ali, Evander Holyfield, Mike Tyson, Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather Jr, just to name a few.

Hardwick is a multi-functional sportsman.

When not throwing punches in the ring he can be found kicking a football around Gaelic Park with the New York Football team, playing a round of golf in Yonkers or getting roughed up in a game of hurling.

“I have always had a keen interest in sports like Gaelic football, hurling and of course boxing,” Hardwick told the Irish Voice a few months ago. 

Hardwick first discovered he was quick with his fists during his school days back in Dublin.

“I was always very fascinated with boxing but I first got into it in school when I was young,” he said.

“Then I won the School Boys competition the first year I entered it, fighting in the National Stadium in Dublin. I stopped the other lad in the first round,” he said proudly.

After finding his feet in New York over a year ago, Hardwick joined the YMCA boxing club in Getty Square in Yonkers, New York. 

“I joined the YMCA after my roommate Johnny Mac Nicolas introduced me to his friend Andy Cleary. Andy shared the same interest and passion I had in boxing so I went to the gym with him,” said Hardwick.

Hardwick credit’s the spirit of his friend, Warren O’ Connor, who was murdered in Dublin in January, for winning the Golden Gloves."

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Nster.com