Mick Dowling

Mick Dowling’s boxing career started when he was just eight-years-old at his local boxing club in Castlecomer, Kilkenny, and within a year he had won a Kilkenny junior title. One of his coaches was his older brother Joe, who went on to become a professional fighter. After leaving school, Mick Dowling worked for the local colliery, but in 1965 moved to Dublin and worked as a waiter at the Gresham Hotel. He joined the Arbour Hill boxing club that same year and in 1966 went on to win the national junior boxing championship. In 1967 he made the first of more than 50 international appearances for Ireland.

Dowling won his first national bantamweight title in 1968 and went on to become the first man to win eight consecutive Irish titles in one weight division. Dowling represented Ireland at the 1968 and 1972 Olympics, as well as the 1969 and 1971 European Championships. He reached the bantamweight quarter-final at the Mexico Games and in München (Munich) four years later was eliminated in the last 16 by the eventual gold medallist Orlando Martínez of Cuba on a split decision. Dowling won two bronze medals at the European Championships and on each occasion lost his semi-final bout on a split decision. Throughout his career, 12 of the 13 contests Dowling lost on a decision were split.

Dowling retired in March 1975 and received offers to turn professional in England and the USA. He declined and took up coaching at Dublin’s Drimnagh Boxing Club, and in 1981 co-founded the Mount Tallant Boxing Club, also in Dublin. Dowling also became boxing commentator, working mostly with the Irish network RTÉ. Dowling was an all-round sportsman, played hurling for Kilkenny, and won county medals as a cross-country runner as a youngster. His son Mark followed in his sporting footsteps and became a professional cyclist.