Irish boxers turn on the style

IRELAND will have six boxers in action in the Olympic qualifying tournament quarter-finals in Pescara, Italy today after an exciting second day that saw the leading contenders go through with just two disappointments.

“It was a great day for Irish boxing and it could have been better if things had gone right for David Oliver Joyce. But there are still tough days ahead,” Gary Keegan, the IABA’s Director of High Performance, said.

John Joe Nevin, Cavan, got the Irish off to a flying start when he dominated Croatian bantamweight Mirsad Ahmeti and then outpointed him 23-8 in a contest that went dangerously close to being stopped on the 20 point rule.

The 18-year-old Mullingar man, who today receives an Irish Examiner Junior Sports Star Award, could hardly have been more impressive as he put a varied selection of two and three punch combinations together and all the time kept Ahmeti at the end of an accurate jab.

At the final bell the 23-8 verdict was an accurate measurement of his performance and he will go forward to the quarter finals with a lot of confidence.

Ross Hickey, from the Grangecon club in Wicklow, went in against Krsrysztof Szot from Poland, who broke the Irishman’s jaw when they last met.

But he was never going to repeat that as Hickey went to work on him, scoring with a variety of accurate punches for a convincing 21-12 victory and a place in the quarter-finals today.

“This was definitely Ross Hickey’s best ever performance, especially when one considers what happened the last time they met,” Gary Keegan said.

Kenneth Egan, Ireland’s most experienced amateur international and captain of the team, put the disappointment of the world championships behind him with a ruthless display against Armenian Myasnik Sargsyan.

Indeed Sargsyan did well to stay standing as the Neilstown southpaw pounded him with some big shots and eventually stopped him on the 20 point rule early in the third round.

Then super heavyweight Cathal McMonagle brought the afternoon’s programme to a sensational end when he knocked out Renato Kovac from Slovakia in the opening seconds of the contest.

The big Donegal man, who boxes out of the Holy Trinity Club in Belfast, stunned his opponent with a big left hook to the head and knocked him out with a right cross to complete an exciting afternoon.

Darren Sutherland kept his qualification hopes on track with an impressive performance against Ramis Baylarov of Azerbaijan en route to a 25-16 win. But it was a hard earned victory in what was a very tough fight. Sutherland lost the first two rounds and trailed by a point going into the third but from there on his class told.

“He took total control of the fight from here on,” Gary Keegan said.

John Joe Joyce boxed brilliantly in his light welterweight contest, disposing of Moldovan Vasilii Belous 25-16.

He is one of those boxers who can be brilliant on his day and he was brilliant yesterday as he built on the world championship experience.

David Oliver Joyce, his cousin, will have to go to Athens in April in search of qualification after losing his second contest of the tournament to Stephen Smith of England, 27-19 in a thriller.

Flyweight Conor Ahern, who missed the national championships through illness, was back in the ring but he lost 26-16 to the Slovakian, Martin Parlagi. Wins in today’s quarter finals would ensure John Joe Nevin, who meets Detelin Dalakliev of Bulgaria, Ross Hickey, who meets Georgian Konstantine Kupatadze and Darren Sutherland of at least a bronze medal box-off for a place in the Olympic tournament, while only the gold and silver medallists will go through from the other divisions.