Devastating Donovan lifts Irish spirits with emphatic victory

ERIC DONOVAN kept Irish spirits on a high with an emphatic if not sensational 33-17 victory over a highly-rated Hungarian lightweight, Miklos Varga, at the World Boxing Championships in Chicago last night.

The 22-year-old Athy southpaw was devastating in the first round which he won 15-6 and when he won the second 11-5, the Hungarian was looking for a way back.

It was impossible to find as Donovan kept him at the end of a deadly-accurate right hand jab and there was one point in the third round when it appeared as if Varga would fall victim to the 20-point rule — but he just held on to trail 33-17.

“I allowed him to catch me with some needless body punches in the last round and maybe that tired me a little but I was far enough ahead to be able to take them and retreat,” Donovan said.

“I have to be happy with that performance but I still have a bit to go. I was a bit rusty tonight but the past couple of days have been an emotional wreck but it was all worth it. I am happy.”

He will now meet Jonathan Batista from the Dominican Republic.

Paddy Barnes produced the best performance of his career when outpointing the North Korean, Kuk Chol Jon, 33-19 in his light flyweight opener.

But there was disappointment for flyweight Conor Ahern who lost to European bronze medallist, Bato-Munko Vankeyeu (Belarus) 28-15 — a score that did not reflect his overall performance.

Barnes however left nothing to chance, and now the Belfast man meets Sadegh Farajade from Iran on Sunday for a place in the last 16.

Yesterday he met a much taller southpaw but time and again he weaved his way inside and scored consistently with a brilliant left hook to the head that punctuated some nice three-punch combinations. They were level at 6-6 at the end of the first round and then it was Barnes in control. Jon fought back to level the contest towards the end of the second round but Barnes again caught him with a solid left hook to lead 13-12.

Barnes won the third round 7-3, getting in under the Korean’s right hand jab and growing stronger as the fight progressed.

Midway through the fourth round he forced Jon to take a standing count from a perfectly placed left hook to the head.

Said Barnes: “It is great to get the first one out of the way. He was a big, tall southpaw and they are always difficult to beat but once I got inside I kept working so he could not pick me off.

“My left hook worked very well and I caught him with a good one when he took that count. The further the fight went the stronger I was getting and that was good. We had two great training camps in France and Germany — sparring some of the top people in the world — and that helps your confidence. Right now I am delighted with that and I just can’t wait for Sunday.”

High Performance Director, Gary Keegan, was also thrilled with the performance.

“His punches were just a fraction short early on but once he found his range and the target, he was absolutely brilliant,” he said.

“I think he can go on from here. He has been working so well in the training camps I always said he could be a dark horse. Apart from his obvious talents, he is a very good listener in the corner. He is one of those boxers who can turn a contest around in a matter of seconds.”

Afterwards Barnes was able to watch Pal Bedak (Hungary), silver medallist last time around, earn an emphatic points win over Oscar Negrete (Colombia).

Conor Ahern, in against a stocky southpaw, matched his man punch for punch in the first round to win the 4-3 and he was equally impressive in the second although the Belarussian began to catch him with a looping left hand over the top.

That round grew untidy and Vankeyeu revelled in the rough and tumble as he edged clear to win 7-4 for a two point lead.

The third round belonged to the Belarussian. He wrestled Ahern to the ground and then forced him to take a standing count from a solid left hand to the head. Ahern took another standing count in the fourth round but, all the time, Vankeyeu was holding him and frustrating him despite a number of cautions from the referee.

Bantamweight Ryan Lindberg (Immaculata, Belfast) will make his world championship debut today against McJoe Arroyo (Puerto Rico) whose brother, McWilliams Arroyo, boxes at flyweight here.

Lindberg, a winner of an Irish Examiner National Junior Sports Star Award, won his first national senior title in January to claim his place in the team and now finds himself just two fights away from a shot at Olympic qualification.

Heavyweight John Sweeney (Dungloe) meets Srdic Branco (Serbia) tonight. The 21-year-old Donegal man was one of the heroes of the EU champion-ships last June when he was unlucky not to win a medal, but he faces a difficult task with big Russian, Rakhim Chakhiev, waiting for him.