Donal Ward’s Bua Boxing Gym, the first Irish-owned gym in New York since the McLaughlin brothers’ Irish Ropes closed down in Far Rockaway 19 years ago, is celebrating a notable accomplishment almost a year and a half after its opening.
Dundalk native Timmy Egan’s recent Madison Square Garden victory over Yonali Sanchez in MSG Boxing’s Ring Masters 165-pound novice final produced Bua’s first amateur champion – and one trained by Ward himself. The Ring Masters is the successor to the New York Daily News Golden Gloves – America’s premier amateur tournament – that run from 1927 to 2017.
Egan and the Bua gym he represents share the same cradle. Although Egan, who’s 30, had spent his childhood in gyms in Ireland, he’d never boxed competitively. He later gravitated towards Gaelic football and soccer States-side, turning out for O’Donovan Rossa, one of the biggest GAA clubs around, and for the New York Shamrocks, respectively.
The COVID-pandemic would reignite Egan’s interest in boxing and, almost simultaneously, lay the foundation for Bua’s genesis.
With gyms closed during the pandemic, Donal Ward — a product of Roscommon’s most successful club, Loughglynn BC, with four Irish amateur titles to his name — had begun training enthusiasts in Astoria Park, Queens. Egan was one of them. The two had met at O’Donovan Rossa, which Ward managed and for whom Egan played.
Those park sessions for numerous boxing and fitness enthusiasts of all ages and genders would inspire Ward to establish Bua — “victory” in Gaelic.
Located at 2309 Steinway St. in Astoria, Queens, Bua opened its doors just before Christmas 2023. The gym is compact but well equipped with heavy bags, wrecking ball bags, speed bags, and double ended bags.
The walls are lined with boxing memorabilia including original fight posters collected by Ward, autographed gloves, singlets and photos.
“It’s a small space, so we have small group classes, six people per class so the coach focuses on boxing technique for everyone,” said Ward, one of four trainers at the gym. “We do a lot of pad work, a lot of bag work, combination drills, partner drills, sparring drills. Everything focuses around boxing.
“We have a lot of beginners; the majority of our clients are beginners. We've all ages, we've teenagers, up and coming just learning, but [eager] to get ready for sparring. And then we have some people who might have [boxed] years ago and now want to make a comeback.”
Ward’s fellow trainers include Donegal transplant Raymie Kane, Daniel Milicevic and Willy Morales. Kane is a former top amateur back home who represented Ireland.
Said Ward: “We fought over 100 times each, so there’s a lot of experience, and that's a big thing in the classes. We're bringing real life boxing to the classes so people can experience what real life boxing is, [so] we're not just going to hit a bag, we're figuring out why we hit the bag this way and why we move our head and why we move our feet.”
Bua’s notoriety is burgeoning as news of its existence spreads in the Irish diaspora and beyond. Light heavyweight Emmet Brennan, the former Olympian who’s undefeated as a pro [6-0, 1 KO], has trained there and taught a class, so has world super featherweight title challenger “Fearless” Feargal McCrory [17-1, 9 KOs].
Then there’s the moral support from Ward’s Roscommon hometown of the O’Rourke sisters, 2022 World Championship gold medalist at light middleweight Lisa, and Aoife, a two-time Olympian. They’ve sent Ward signed Irish singlets and gloves.
Egan’s Ring Masters success is bound to raise Bua’s stock further. Visit https://www.buaboxing.com/ for more information about Bua Boxing Gym.
