Nevin targets gold after booking Beijing ticket

JOHN JOE NEVIN, who was named the Irish Examiner National Junior Sport star for boxing on Wednesday, secured automatic qualification for the Olympic Games with a spectacular victory over Marksym Tretyak from the Ukraine at the qualifying tournament in Pescara yesterday.

However, while that was the object of the mission to Italy’s Adriatic Coast, he vowed he won’t return to Mullingar without the gold medal.

However there was huge disappointment for the Irish team captain, Kenneth Egan, who lost out to the Belarussian light heavyweight, Ramazan Magamedau, in a contest he was expected to win while another Mullingar man, John Joe Joyce, who boxes out of Dominic O’Rourke’s St. Michael’s club in Athy, lost his light welterweight semi-final.

In normal circumstances they would be happy with their bronze medals from a tournament that had 41 nations participating which made it the equivalent of a European championships but both had their sights on qualification and, in their case, they needed to make their respective finals to achieve that.

Ironically, John Joe Nevin would have had a second opportunity to qualify out here with a third bantamweight spot up for grabs in a box off between the two bronze medallists.

But the 18-year-old who boxes out of the Cavan club was never going to leave it to chance against a highly rated Ukranian who was the raging hot favourite to go through.

He matched him punch for punch to tie the first round at four points apiece. He lost the second round 7-5 but came storming back to win the third round 13-3 and then coasted the fourth to win the contest 32-16.

“He was just wonderful and for me this was the best performance I have seen in an Irish vest in the five years that I have been working with the team,” High Performance Director, Gary Keegan, said. “The Irish Examiner did well by giving him that award this week. I know he appreciated it very much.

“Alex (Ferguson) spoke to him from the Mansion House. He had just won his quarter-final and he was absolutely delighted with that. “Today he was just wonderful. He was five points behind approaching the end of the second round. But he pulled off a third round that was the most amazing third round I have ever seen.

“And then he goes into the fourth round and looks like he is just taking a stroll in the park. It was exhibition stuff — just awesome.

“His combinations were quick and a delight to watch but he was scoring big with his right hand and he was attacking and counter-punching. He just broke the Ukranian’s heart in the third round.

“Everything went well for me,” Nevin recalled.