Timmy Egan, last year’s MSG Boxing Ring Masters 165-pound Novice champion, is two wins away from bagging the 2026 Open title in the same weight division after defeating old foe Fabian Cordero in the quarterfinals at the Sweatbox Gym in Brooklyn last Saturday.
The Dundalk native’s three-round points decision avenged a loss to Cordero in the US Boxing Metropolitan Championships at the same venue last October. Egan, whose 31, meets another familiar face, Gaetano Di Chiara, in the semi-finals, whose date and site will be announced later. He beat Di Chiara on points at Gaelic Park in the Bronx last September.
“It was a good fight,” Egan said of his latest scrap with Cordero. “First round he took. I took the second and third. I was way more aggressive in the second and third and landed big shots. Fabian was good too, but I was better this time, which is good. I felt good though, I felt strong.”
Trainer Donal Ward was pleased with his Bua Boxing Club charge’s performance. “A good win,” he dubbed it. “[Egan] done well. He’s improving all the time.”
Ward pointed to Egan’s last fight, the loss to 165-pound Six Borough Champion Kevin Torres in Patchogue last month, as a turning point.
“Since then, he's really, really focusing on training, proper training. Up to [then], he had kind of a lot of distractions and I think from that fight against quality, quality opposition, he learned the importance of sticking to the game plan and sticking to proper training. So, I definitely seen big improvements,” said the Roscommon native.
And bigger tests lie ahead, Ward conceded. “So, he's in the semifinals, all these guys are quality. But he’s prepared well for this."
ENTER DECLAN
There’s a second Irish fighter in this year’s Ring Masters tournament – Donegal transplant Declan Friel, who’s 31 and only laced on the gloves for the first time last March when he joined Bua Boxing Club to lose weight.
Friel had a bye in the first round of the 154-pound novice class. He meets one Januel Cabrera in the next stage of what will just be his second competitive bout ever. The date and venue are TBD.
Friel is a Queens resident and GAA player who moved States-side nine years ago. He made his ring debut on a charity card in New York last month, although its sanctioning by USA Boxing made it an official contest.
“He trains most days and is definitely improving all the time,” said Ward, who also trains Friel. “So, we said we give the Ring Masters a shot. It might be a bit soon, but it's a good experience to get and he's probably similar to Timmy [Egan] when Timmy started off with me and we kind of just went into the Ring Masters first and he got better.”
