Sutherland and O’Neill set for battle

WITH the national championships starting tomorrow night week at the National Stadium, boxing fans are looking forward to the seemingly inevitable middleweight battle between champion Darren Sutherland and challenger Darren O’Neill.

A year ago, Sutherland was in unbeatable form after a battling performance in the world championships, in China, where he lost to eventual gold medallist, Karbov Matvey.

He wasn’t Irish champion when he made that trip, but quickly put that right at the national championships, last January, where his only tough fight was against the up and coming Portlaoise man Edward Healy.