{"id":1126958,"date":"2026-08-03T01:08:20","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T01:08:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1126958\/"},"modified":"2026-08-03T01:08:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T01:08:20","slug":"i-said-to-her-god-willing-im-going-to-be-putting-a-medal-here-willie-john-mccartan-happy-to-do-mum-proud-in-glasgow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1126958\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cI said to her \u2018God willing, I\u2019m going to be putting a medal here\u2019\u201d: Willie John McCartan happy to do mum proud in Glasgow"},"content":{"rendered":"

THERE was only person on Willie McCartan\u2019s mind as he stood on the Commonwealth Games podium on Saturday night.<\/p>\n

The Gilford BC super-heavyweight – who first got into boxing to improve his fitness for Gaelic football with Tullylish \u2013 not only forced his way onto the Commonwealth Games team, but brings a bronze medal back from Glasgow.<\/p>\n

It means that bit more, too, because before leaving for Scotland, McCartan visited the grave of late mother Maria, who passed away in 2018. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe morning I got the boat, I was at her grave and I said to her \u2018God willing, I\u2019m going to be putting a medal here\u2026\u2019 <\/p>\n

\"PFL<\/a>\"Ospreys<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI was definitely a bit emotional there when I was telling [Team NI coach] Damian [Kennedy] after I got out of the ring [following his quarter-final win].<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a big achievement for me and my family, Tullylish in general, you get emotional here now, but I\u2019m very, very happy. It would be a nice thing if she was here to see it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maria would be a proud woman to see the man, and the boxer, he has become.<\/p>\n

Because, despite still learning his trade, and competing with boxing\u2019s big boys in the super-heavyweight division, McCartan fought through an elbow injury to get the better of Ghana\u2019s Daniel Plange in his last eight clash \u2013 guaranteeing a medal.<\/p>\n

The 28-year-old would love to have had the opportunity to go a step further, but that niggling injury forced him to withdraw from a scheduled semi-final against England\u2019s eventual champion, Damar Thomas.<\/p>\n

\u201cOch, it took me a full day to accept it \u2013 I was gutted obviously at the time, but you have to see it for what it is. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m bringing home something anyway, I wouldn\u2019t have been going in there firing on full cylinders\u2026 I\u2019m happy enough now. That\u2019s boxing, people get injured, people get sick.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be selected was an honour, and to win a medal is in an even bigger one. I was playing football for Tullylish and then I went to Gilford with the intention to get fit for Gaelic and I ended up just liking the boxing better. <\/p>\n

\u201cA few years later, here we are \u2013 it\u2019s a bit mad. I didn\u2019t think I would get this far.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"GarynGaryn McAllister with the bronze medal won at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games. PICTURE: TEAM NI <\/p>\n

Garyn McAllister, meanwhile, continued the fine fighting tradition of Sandy Row by bringing Commonwealth bronze back.<\/p>\n

Lewis Crocker is a former world welterweight champion while Crocker\u2019s big sister, Alanna, landed bronze in Glasgow 12 years ago. Heavyweight McAllister – at just 21 \u2013 showed he has a big future ahead of him, having outclassed Ghana\u2019s Jibril Muntari before losing a close content against Welshman Connor Williams on Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter the fight, I was a bit fuming with myself. <\/p>\n

\u201cComing here, I wanted a gold medal, but at least I\u2019m going home with something \u2013 I\u2019m not going home empty-handed, that\u2019s the main thing. I\u2019d obviously be a lot happier with a gold medal.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m the second youngest on the team, getting myself on the podium, it\u2019s a big achievement.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"THERE was only person on Willie McCartan\u2019s mind as he stood on the Commonwealth Games podium on Saturday…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1126959,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[7826],"tags":[1935,748,208905,305605,918,77258,4884,712,16,15,304579],"class_list":["post-1126958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-glasgow","tag-boxing","tag-britain","tag-commonwealth-games-2026","tag-garyn-mcallister","tag-glasgow","tag-glasgow-2026","tag-great-britain","tag-scotland","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-willie-john-mccartan"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/117028907405841284","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1126958","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1126958"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1126958\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1126959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1126958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1126958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1126958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}