A 14-YEAR-OLD fighting prodigy from Castleconnell made Irish history last month when he became the first Irish youth ever to win the WBC Muay Thai Celtic title.
Thomas McMahon wrote his name in the Irish history books when he faced down stiff competition at the Barnsley Metrodome in the UK and came out on top.
The young star has been competing in the Muay Thai arena for just 22 months, with Limerick’s EastSide Muay Thai, and he’s already making a powerful name for himself.
Speaking to the Limerick Post about his historic win, Thomas said: It’s hard put it in words. It’s just the best feeling ever. All my hard work paid off.”
“My first ever competition that I went to fight in England, I saw the very same belt that I won, and I said to myself ‘I will have that belt one day’, and then it came true,” the young Castleconnell fighter recalled.
But his success doesn’t come without sacrifice. Despite working hard on his Junior Cert exams this year, the 14-year-old went above and beyond to keep up with his training.
“When I have school, I’d wake up at maybe four or five in the morning, go for a run, go back to sleep, then get ready for school. Then I come home, have a nap, and go to training and run maybe another five or six kilometres again, and come back home and do it all again.”
And Thomas is no stranger to glory in the ring, even at his young age. Under the watchful eye of EastSide coach Calvin Ross, Thomas has already claimed the Anglo-Irish Muay Thai title. As if it were written in the stars, he won his previous belt one year to the week he claimed the U16 WBC Celtic belt.
The Newport College student also took home gold for Team Ireland at the WBC Muay Thai Festival in Venice, Italy, this past June.
Thomas’ father, Thomas McMahon Snr, was glowing with pride following his son’s record-setting win, as he explained the teen will now compete for another WBC Celtic title belt this coming September.
“He’s already made history in Ireland. He was the first youth ever to win the WBC Celtic title. He’ll always be the first. Now he has the chance to fight for another belt in another category,” said Thomas Snr, who runs a timber yard in Daly’s Cross.
The proud father says the day Thomas won the title, and made Irish history, was “the best day of my life”.
“I’ll never forget that day, it’s an historical day for me. To see that belt put around him made me believe so much in what he can do. It’s been a rollercoaster the last couple of months.”
Thomas Snr says his son’s dedication in training inspired him to get up and going himself too.
“I was 19 stone last year when I went to a competition with Thomas up in Mullingar. When I saw him fighting in his first competition, he gave me so much motivation that I started dieting myself, and I’ve lost five stone since.”
“My sole purpose for Thomas is to make sure he’s in training, to make sure his school work is done, and make sure he’s on time and financially taken care of. Whatever money I earn from the timber yard goes into Thomas,” Thomas Snr said proudly.
After his upcoming title shot in September, Thomas will set his sights on an even bigger goal – the World Muay Thai Youth Games in Thailand in February 2024.
The father-son duo will travel to Thailand a month in advance of the competition so that Thomas can get used to training and competing in the hot Thai weather and be in top condition to further concrete his name in the annals of Irish fighting legend.
