Ireland recorded a 5-2 victory over Italy at the National Stadium in Dublin tonight to set up what should be a thrilling finale with France tomorrow afternoon.

Beijing-bound John Joe Nevin believes that the Irish junior squad have the talent to do a Round Robin double at the National Stadium in Dublin this weekend.

Light heavyweight prospect Tommy McCarthy is two bouts away from claiming an Irish title at the National Youth Championships just a few weeks after going all the way in the Ulster Senior Championships.

DARREN SUTHERLAND (St Saviours OBA) strengthened his Olympic qualification hopes with a 15-8 victory over arch-rival, Darren O’Neill (Paulstown) in an action-packed middleweight final at the National Stadium on Saturday.

Darren Sutherland and Darren O'Neill will meet in a repeat of last January's Irish senior middleweight final tonight after Sutherland advanced from last night's semi final box-off at the National Stadium in Dublin.

DARREN SUTHERLAND and Darren O’Neill took different routes but each had decisive semi-final victories to qualify for tonight’s middleweight showdown at the finals of the national championships at the National Stadium.