{"id":377903,"date":"2026-04-02T07:32:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T07:32:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/377903\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T07:32:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T07:32:11","slug":"jon-mcconnell-determined-to-grab-brazil-chance-after-frustrating-few-years-the-irish-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/377903\/","title":{"rendered":"Jon McConnell determined to grab Brazil chance after frustrating few years \u2013 The Irish News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"c-paragraph\">THERE was a time when it felt as though the setbacks were never-ending, but Jon McConnell didn\u2019t lose faith.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Injuries, coming out the wrong side of split decisions, and trying to force his way into the picture in one of the country\u2019s most competitive weight classes meant McConnell has had to bide his time as a senior boxer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">But now the Holy Trinity ace is back to his best, having claimed the 70kg Irish title in January, securing his spot on the plane to Brazil for the upcoming World Boxing Cup in Foz do Iguacu.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cI always knew it was going to come \u2013 it was just when.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"c-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.irishnews.com\/sport\/footballsoccer\/2022\/12\/27\/news\/celtic_s_carl_starfelt_feels_set_up_for_strong_second_half_of_season_after_break-2960760\/\" aria-hidden=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"Celtic&#x2019;s Carl Starfelt feels set up for strong second half of season after break\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/WBFRWRAMZBP6DKEJAA5O5SBUIY.jpg\"  width=\"800\" height=\"450\"\/><\/a><a class=\"c-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.irishnews.com\/sport\/soccer\/roberto-de-zerbi-dealt-early-injury-blow-after-taking-tottenham-reins-OFOFCL4J7VIFPCZK4JI452QQFA\/\" aria-hidden=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"Roberto De Zerbi dealt early injury blow after taking Tottenham reins\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/OHEY3OC3WJPTFIPTRM5LM3SRAY.jpg\"  width=\"800\" height=\"450\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cI was getting a lot of bad luck, a few decisions against me. I made the jump two weights to try and qualify for the last Olympics, I wasn\u2019t a 71 kilo boxer at all, but I was still mixing it with the best in the country and internationally.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cWhen I box to my best, nobody can beat me. It\u2019s just getting it right, getting the preparation right, and we\u2019ve been bouncing out of our skin coming up to Brazil.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019m expecting to win it. Going over, that\u2019s what the mindset is now, especially building into next year. This is a massive year to push on internationally.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">And McConnell is determined to make a mark after a hand injury sustained in last year\u2019s Ulster elites saw him miss most of a frustrating 2025.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cI hurt it in the first round of the semi-final of the Ulster elites\u2026 it turned out to be bone bruising and bleeding. If it was broken it probably would\u2019ve healed sooner.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cI fought in the final two days later, basically with one hand \u2013 my hand was like a balloon, but I still won. I didn\u2019t miss out on too many tournaments because of the transition to World Boxing, but it was a lot of rehab, a lot of different dates pushed back, but I finally got there in the end, let it heal, and I\u2019ve no problems with it now.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cMaybe it was a blessing in disguise; it built my character and built my mindset up.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"THERE was a time when it felt as though the setbacks were never-ending, but Jon McConnell didn\u2019t lose&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":377904,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1812,1347,61,60,116,80],"class_list":{"0":"post-377903","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-technology","8":"tag-boxing","9":"tag-brazil","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-los-angeles","13":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=377903"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377903\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/377904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=377903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=377903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=377903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}