O’Neill throws down gauntlet to Sutherland
Understudy to Sutherland since moving down to middleweight, he could not believe his luck when the Dubliner was eliminated from the world championships in Chicago.
And it sets up a sensational showdown between Ireland’s two top amateur middleweights at the national championships next year.
They have never touched gloves and the showdown scheduled for this year’s championships was scuppered when O’Neill broke a bone in training.
“To be honest I thought that was the end of my Olympic dream,” he admitted from his home in Kilkenny yesterday. “And then when I saw the draw for the world championships I really thought it was the end.
“It looked an easy draw and I was sure Darren (Sutherland) would qualify for the Olympics.
“But he appeared to struggle a bit against the Armenian (Andranik Hakobayan) and I had beaten him pretty convincingly in the Czech Republic) in what was my very first fight after the broken hand.
“But I was really surprised when Darren lost to the Venezuelan and suddenly I realised I was back in the hunt.
“I was due a change of luck. I mean I have had three broken hands since last October but I have also won three medals in multi-nations in that time.”
His most recent was a silver in Cyprus a couple of weeks ago but he rates that tournament a bit of a shambles.
A former minor with Kilkenny, he has long since turned his back on hurling and he will have a bit of a spring in his step when he goes back into full training for next year’s national championships.”
The bout of the year will undoubtedly be the middleweight final involving the two Darrens and now the prize will be huge — a shot at Olympic qualification.
The two qualifying tournaments are in Italy February 24–March 2 and Greece April 7-14.
And, in the case of the middleweights there will be six places up for grabs with Germany, Ukraine and Russia qualified.
The following places remain to be decided: Flyweight: Four places remaining (Italy, Poland, Azerbaijan and Russia qualified)
Bantamweight: Six places remaining (Russia and England qualified).
Featherweight: Five places remaining (Turkey, Russia, Ukraine qualified).
Lightweight: Four places remaining (England, Russia, Turkey, Italy and Armenia qualified).
Light Welter: Four places remaining (Armenia, France, England, Russia and Bulgaria qualified) Welterweight: Six places remaining (Turkey, Moldova, Germany qualified).
Middleweight: Six places remaining (Germany, Ukraine and Russia qualified).
Light Heavy: Four places left (Hungary, Russia, Lithuania, Croatia qualified).
Heavyweight: Minimum two and maximum four places remaining to be decided on results of quarter-finals.
Super Heavyweight: Minimum four and maximum five depending on results of quarter-finals.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
