Neil McLaughlin won a bronze medal at the 1971 European Amateur Boxing Championships before competing in the men's flyweight event at the 1972 Summer Olympics, where he reached the quarter-finals.
22 Facts About Neil McLaughlin
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Neil McLaughlin turned professional in 1976 and won the Northern Irish bantamweight title the following year after stopping Terry Hanna in the fifth round.
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Neil McLaughlin became involved in politics with Sinn Fein and was present at the events of Bloody Sunday in 1972.
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Neil McLaughlin was born in the Bogside area of Derry, Northern Ireland.
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Neil McLaughlin developed an interest in gymnastics and hoped to take on the sport full time until a disagreement with a coach at his club led him to quit.
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Neil McLaughlin won schoolboy boxing titles at regional and national levels before being selected to represent Ireland for the first time in 1969, travelling to Dundee for a meeting with Scotland.
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Neil McLaughlin competed in the 1971 European Amateur Boxing Championships in Madrid, where he was one of three Irish boxers to claim a bronze medal, and won his first All-Ireland title the same year.
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Neil McLaughlin would retain the title the following year and was chosen to compete in the men's flyweight event at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.
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At the games, McLaughlin recorded a points victory over Sudanese fighter Mohamed Abakkar in the first round before receiving a bye in the second.
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Neil McLaughlin was defeated by eventual silver medalist, Ugandan Leo Rwabwogo in the quarter-finals.
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Neil McLaughlin turned professional in January 1976, losing his debut fight on points to Welshman George Sutton.
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Neil McLaughlin recorded his first win in his following fight, with a victory over Tony Kerr but would lose a rematch to the Scotsman two months later.
13.
The delay left Owen short of an opponent and a third meeting with Neil McLaughlin was arranged for the following month, where Neil McLaughlin suffered a second points defeat to the Welshman.
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Neil McLaughlin met Dave Smith in consecutive fights later in the year, drawing the first before suffering a defeat in the second.
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In July 1977, Neil McLaughlin met Terry Hanna for the vacant Northern Irish bantamweight title, stopping his opponent in the fifth round to claim the belt.
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Neil McLaughlin did not fight again for nearly a year, winning his next bout against Ian Murray in June 1978 before suffering a defeat to Gary Davidson soon after.
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Neil McLaughlin recorded victories over Mohammed Younis and Pip Coleman at the start of 1979.
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Neil McLaughlin faced Johnny Owen again at the end of the year, losing again, before unsuccessfully challenging Nigerian Ray Amoo for the Commonwealth flyweight championship in 1980.
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Neil McLaughlin continued to fight until 1982; his last bout was a knockout defeat against Ivor Jones in June of that year.
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Neil McLaughlin became involved in local politics in later life and was one of the founding members of the Sinn Fein Cumann in Shantallow.
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One of his children, Neil McLaughlin Jr, has stood as a local council candidate for Sinn Fein.
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Neil McLaughlin died on 23 December 2013 and was buried in Derry City Cemetery.