‘Disconcerted’ boxing chief queries judging as Egan exits

THE President of the Irish Amateur Boxing Association, Dominic O’Rourke, said he had concerns in advance of Kenneth Egan’s light heavyweight contest on Wednesday night when he heard people around him expressing regrets that Croatia had just one boxer remaining in the world championships.

That boxer, Marijo Sivolija, went on to outpoint Egan, 17-9, in Chicago, depriving the Dubliner of a place in the quarter-finals and redirecting him to the qualifiers in Italy and Greece next spring in pursuit of that place in the Olympic Games in Beijing.

“It was something that caught my ear when I heard those people talking,” O’Rourke said. “And I found it a bit disconcerting. Maybe I am over emphasising the thing in view of what happened in the ring here.”

He was commenting on how difficult Egan found it to get points for his punches while it appeared at times as if all the Croatian had to do was wave his hand at the Irishman to score a hit.

The contest got off to a slow start and almost a minute had elapsed before Egan put a score on the board from a solid right jab that was answered with a point from a left hook to the body. But it did not spark any onslaught and the Croatian won the round 2-1.

Egan won the second round 3-2 but he showed nothing to indicate that he was going to take control of the fight and when the Croatian won the third 5-4 he was back in the driving seat.

It was now quite obvious that the Croatian had captured the attention of the judges because Egan found the target with three solid right hands to the head but failed to register a point.

There were times when it appeared as if the judges had forgotten about Egan in the fourth round as Sivolija scored freely with punches that only scraped through and when Egan was given a standing count in the closing seconds his campaign was over.

Said Egan: “I threw a rake of right hooks but I was not getting scores for them.

“He was throwing his right hand at the same time and even though he was not hitting me he was getting points for it. I don’t know what the story was with the judges. Maybe they did not see it that way.”

He added: “I just have to put that behind me now and move on. I am not out of it yet. This was just the first qualifier. When I lace my boots up in the morning and put on a pair of gloves the Olympic Games are on my mind. That is why I do it. You can go on and win senior titles. Senior titles are nice but I am past all that. The Olympics are what I want now.”

Head coach Billy Walsh was also bitterly disappointed not just with the result but with the performance.

“The Croatian was open to big body shots and he did not avail of the opportunity.

“Having said that, the judging was puzzling. Kenny nailed Sivolija with a lot of big right hands but did not get a single point for any of them.”