Cornelius Sheehan is an Irish boxer from Clonmel, Ireland. As an amateur he became the youngest ever Irish Elite Heavyweight champion going on to win a total of a six Irish Elite titles, four at heavyweight and two at super heavyweight. He also represented the Leipzig Leopards in the World Series of Boxing and won a gold and a silver medal for Ireland in two consecutive years at the European Union Amateur Boxing Championships. Since turning professional he is undefeated in six contests.[1][2]
Amateur career
Sheehan boxed for Clonmel Boxing Club, where he was trained by Martin Fennessy. He debuted as a Senior boxer in the Heavyweight division before later moving to Super Heavyweight. His first Irish Elite title came in 2008 at Heavyweight with a points victory over Tommy Sheehan in the final. Sheehan would go on to six Irish Elite titles.[3]
In the 2008 European Union Amateur Boxing Championships in Cetniewo, Poland, competed at Heavyweight earning victories over Stephen Simmons from Scotland (15:6) in the quarter-finals and Germany's Vahagn Sahakyan (10:7) in the semis. In the final he faced the favoured Greek boxer Helias Pavlidis, against whom he lost on points (12:29) earning a silver medal.[4][5]
The following year European Union Championships took place in Odense, Denmark, and Sheehan competed again in the Heavyweight division. In the semi-finals he beat England's Warren Baister in the semi-finals and beat Spain's Juan Oliva Aleman (13:2) in the finals to earn a gold medal.[5]
In his last national elite championships, Sheehan earned a points victories over Jason Barrons, Niall Kennedy and clubmate Dean Gardiner to clinch the 2014 Irish Super Heavyweight title.[citation needed]