THE Irish boxers head into the second and final week of the world boxing championships in Baku with nine members of the 10-man team still standing and the prospect of Olympic qualification looming midweek.

ROY SHEAHAN, St Michael’s (Athy), got his World Championship campaign off to the perfect start when posting an impressive 15-10 victory over Carl Hield (Bahamas) in Baku yesterday and his next opponent, Borna Katalinic (Croatia) is a man he has beaten twice previously.

IRELAND’S Elite boxers are approaching the business end of the European Senior Championships in Turkey after claiming eight wins out of 10 in Ankara over the weekend.

PAUL McCLOSKEY is just two fights away from the Olympics after another resounding win at the qualifying tournament in Warsaw last night where he overwhelmed the highly rated Croatian, Borna Katalinic 40-19 to advance to the quarter-finals.