Joyce misses out on Helsinki event

NATIONAL senior lightweight champion, John Joe Joyce, is moving up to the light-welterweight division and will miss the GeeBee multi-nations boxing tournament in Finland next week.

The St. Michael’s, Athy, boxer won a bronze medal at lightweight at the multi-nations tournament in Warsaw two weeks ago having also medalled in Zagreb before that.

He was originally named at lightweight on the eight-man team for Helsinki and he will be replaced at this weight by Dubliner Ciaran Bates.

With national light welterweight champion, Aodh Carlyle, already named at the weight there is no place for Joyce in the team for the tournament which runs from April 12-16.

Ciaran Bates from the St. Mary’s club joins Conor Ahern, Ryan Lindberg, David Oliver Joyce, Aodh Carlyle, Darren Sutherland, Ian Tims and Cathal McMonagle on the Irish team.

However the team will also travel without two other national champions, European bronze medallist, Kenneth Egan, and welterweight Roy Sheahan, who are both nursing hand injuries.