JOHN Joe Joyce moved within one bout of a place on the Irish team for next month’s European Championships in Liverpool following a convincing win over Philip Sutcliffe in the semi-finals of the Open Senior Competition at the National Stadium in Dublin on Saturday night.

Kelly Pavlik knocked out Jermain Taylor in the seventh round in Atlantic City last night to claim the WBC and WBO middleweight belts and become undisputed middleweight world champion after a thrilling fight.

Friday’s meeting of Kenya and Ireland is a crucial one for both teams, but Ireland will feel their entire ICC World Cricket League Division 1 campaign could hinge on the result.