Donovan prepares to make significant weight jump

ERIC DONOVAN (St Michael’s Athy) who surrendered his featherweight title to clubmate, David Oliver Joyce, at this year’s national senior championships makes a significant move up the weights over the coming weekend when Ireland face Russia in back to back matches.

Tonight he will box Kirill Glumov at featherweight at the National Stadium while on Sunday night he will move up to the lightweight division to take on Ivan Elizarov at Athlone Institute of Technology.

Prior to the GeeBee multi-nations tournament in Helsinki the reigning lightweight champion, John Joe Joyce announced that he is to move up to light welterweight and Donovan is eyeing the vacant crown.

Eric Donovan, Ross Hickey, Karl Crawley, Aodh Carlyle, Terry O’Neill, Eamon O’Kane, Ian Tims, John Sweeney, Cathal McMonagle, Willie Casey, Eamon Touhey, Fergal Redmond, Edward Healy, and the brothers Jim and Martin Sweeney will be in action over the weekend.

Donovan, three time national senior champion, will compete in both internationals as will super heavyweight champion, Cathal McMonagle, and light welterweight champion Aodh Carlyle.

McMonagle, who had Bernard Dunne’s coach, Harry Hawkins, in his corner when he won an Irish senior super heavyweight title this year made a big impression at the recent GeeBee senior Multi Nations in Finland.

The pairings for tonight’s international at the National Stadium (7.45 pm) are: Featherweight, Eric Donovan (Ireland) v Kirill Glumov (Russia); Lightweight, Ross Hickey v Ivan Elizarov; Karl Crawley v Umit Elizarov; Light Welter, Aodh Carlyle v Gennady Rybalko; Welterweight, Terry O’Neill v Evgeniy Kochurov; Middleweight, Eamon O’Kane v Vasily Pugachev; Light Heavy, Ian Tims v Boris Proklin; Heavyweight, John Sweeney v Sairan Smailov; Super Heavy, Cathal McMonagle v Andrey Kudlay.

Ireland v Russia at Athlone Institute of Technology, Sunday (7.30pm): Featherweight, Willie Casey v Kirill Glumov; Lightweight, Eric Donovan v Ivan Elizarov; Eamon Touhey v Umit Aleshkin; Light Welter, Aodh Carlyle v Gennady Rybalko; Welterweight, Fergal Redmond v Evgeniy Kochurov; Middleweight, Edward Heal v Vasily Pugachev; Light Heavy, Ian Tims v Boris Proklin; Heavyweight, Jimmy Sweeney v Sairan Smailov; Super Heavy, Martin Sweeney v Andrey Kudlay.

The Junior Cadet Championships get under way at the National Stadium today while Mitchelstown Boxing Club will hold their first tournament at the Christian Brothers School on Sunday.