THE semi-final line-up of the Ulster Elite Boxing Championships is complete following the opening night of action at Girdwood Community Hub on Wednesday.

There will be 12 last four contests decided on Thursday and undoubtedly, the pick of the bunch comes in the 71kg category where Irish Elite champion, Jon McConnell takes on the 2024 welterweight champion, Cahir Gormley who has moved up in weight.

McConnell came up short in last year's light-middleweight decider to Gormley's Illies clubmate, Matthew McCole, and there is a possibility of the Donegal club having both men in this final as McCole has got the benefit of a walkover against Canal's Timothy Burns who is out of the other last four bout.

At flyweight, 2022 champion Blaine Dobbins will seek to advance into a final against Irish champion Clepson Dos Santos - whom he beat in that year's final - when he takes on Spartans' Scott Thompson.

On Wednesday, Jordan O'Donnell moved into a lightweight semi-final against Dylan Eagleson as the St George's man came through in his quarter-final against Jack Douglas on Wednesday.

O'Donnell gradually took control of his opening bout to power on and claim a unanimous decision win over his Holy Family opponent in what was a hugely entertaining opening bout of the 2025 championships.

Douglas was conceding height and reach, but quickly found a way to get inside, landing with a flush left and repeated the trick after setting it up with a right.

O'Donnell was growing into it, using his advantages to find a home with the jab and sinking a left downstairs and seemed to have found his groove a little bit better in the second as he was landing with more frequency, but was being made to work with Douglas continuing to press and got through with a heavy hook.

The high pace continued into the third with both perhaps knowing it was all to play for, but the St George's man landed a monstrous right and managed to keep Douglas at the end of his jab.

"It was a good fight and good rounds to start me off in the competition," said O'Donnell who is back in action tonight (Thursday).

"He (Eagleson) is a big name, but I'm confident I can beat him as I've put in the work. I'm ready for the big names and big challenges." 

The other semi-final in the 60kg division will see Erne' Rhys Owens face Cookstown's Erik Banas.

Also on Wednesday, there were two welterweight quarter-finals with Hoy Trinity's Jojo McArdle overpowering Townland's Conor McCorry and he will face Cairn Lodge's Gianni Richmond who claimed a unanimous verdict against Peter Weatherall, with the other semi-final between Erne's Anthony Malanaphy and Clonard's Darragh Smyth.

The middleweight semi-final line-up was also completed as Philip Rooney scored a knockdown on his way to victory over Noel Grew, and he will face Holy Trinity's Kyle Smyth who was granted a walkover against James McGuinness. Eoghan Quinn and Daniel Ramsey meet in the other semi-final.

The remaining semi-finals on Thursday will see Holy Family's Garyn McAllister and Monkstown's Calvin McCullough battle it out for a place in the heavyweight decider against Immaculata's Colm McCrory, while at light-heavyweight, there are two semi-finals as Jake Walker of Corpus Christi meets Castleblayney's Conor McKernon and Ryan Murphy of St Monica's takes on Errigal's Peter Clarke.

Quarter-final results
60kg: Jordan O'Donnell (St George's) 5-0 Jack Douglas (Holy Family)
67kg: Jojo McArdle (Holy Trinity) W - RSC vs Conor McCorry (Townland)
67kg: Peter Weatherall (St Paul's) 0-5 Gianni Richmond (Cairn Lodge)
75kg: Philip Rooney (Sacred Heart BA) 5-0 Noel Grew (St Paul's)
75kg: Kyle Smith (Holy Trinity) W/O vs James McGuinness (St Monica's)

Semi-Finals (Thursday from 7.30pm)
51kg: Scott Thompson (Spartans) v Blaine Dobbins (St Joseph's) 
60kg: Rhys Owens (Erne) v Erik Banas (Cookstown)
60kg: Dylan Eagleson (St Paul's) v Jordan O'Donnell (St George's)
67kg: Anthony Malanaphy (Erne) v Darragh Smyth (Clonard)
67kg: Jojo McArdle (Holy Trinity) v Gianni Richmond (Cairn Lodge)
71kg: Jon McConnell (Holy Trinity) v Cahir Gormley (Illies GG)
75kg: Eoghan Quinn (St John's) v Daniel Ramsey (Emerald)
75kg: Philip Rooney (Sacred Heart BA) v Kyle Smyth (Holy Trinity) 
80kg: Jake Walker (Corpus Christi) v Conor McKernon (Castleblayney)
80kg: Ryan Murphy (St Monica's) v Peter Clarke (Errigal)
92kg: Garyn McAllister (Holy Family) v Calvin McCullough (Monkstown)