Seamus McDonagh is a retired professional boxer who currently works as
an actor, screenwriter and filmmaker.McDonagh was born in Birmingham,
England, and raised in Enfield, County Meath, Ireland. He moved to the
United States with his dad as a teenager and took up residence in Bay
Ridge, Brooklyn. He joined the 18th Avenue Boxing Club where he met
boxing trainers Neil Ferrara, Joe and Nick (The Thin Man) Baffi who
along with his dad, Jim McDonagh trained him for the 1983 Golden
Gloves.McDonagh fought at light-heavyweight and lost a split decision
in the quarter-finals to David Harris, the eventual winner. In the
1984 Golden Gloves he fought out the Times Square Boxing Gym again
lost a split decision in the heavyweight division to Ira Turner, the
eventual champion. On a trip to the Catskills, Seamus visited
legendary trainer Cus D'Amato and was offered the opportunity to live
and train under Cus' tutelage, along with another then unknown
teenager named Mike Tyson. Seamus declined, returned to Brooklyn and
in 1985 won the New York State Golden Gloves heavyweight division
scoring KO's in all four of his victories. Later that year he turned
professional and used the money he obtained from the signing bonus to
pay for his second semester at Saint John's University. It was during
this time that Seamus became familiar with novelist Norman Mailer.
They corresponded for many years.Seamus took most of his classes at
the Staten Island campus and became a member of the fraternity Sigma
Chi Upsilon (EXY).
an actor, screenwriter and filmmaker.McDonagh was born in Birmingham,
England, and raised in Enfield, County Meath, Ireland. He moved to the
United States with his dad as a teenager and took up residence in Bay
Ridge, Brooklyn. He joined the 18th Avenue Boxing Club where he met
boxing trainers Neil Ferrara, Joe and Nick (The Thin Man) Baffi who
along with his dad, Jim McDonagh trained him for the 1983 Golden
Gloves.McDonagh fought at light-heavyweight and lost a split decision
in the quarter-finals to David Harris, the eventual winner. In the
1984 Golden Gloves he fought out the Times Square Boxing Gym again
lost a split decision in the heavyweight division to Ira Turner, the
eventual champion. On a trip to the Catskills, Seamus visited
legendary trainer Cus D'Amato and was offered the opportunity to live
and train under Cus' tutelage, along with another then unknown
teenager named Mike Tyson. Seamus declined, returned to Brooklyn and
in 1985 won the New York State Golden Gloves heavyweight division
scoring KO's in all four of his victories. Later that year he turned
professional and used the money he obtained from the signing bonus to
pay for his second semester at Saint John's University. It was during
this time that Seamus became familiar with novelist Norman Mailer.
They corresponded for many years.Seamus took most of his classes at
the Staten Island campus and became a member of the fraternity Sigma
Chi Upsilon (EXY).
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