Impressive Nevin stars as Irish enjoy superb day in Milan

JOHN JOE NEVIN, Darren O’Neill and Eric Donovan all won their contests on what was an brilliant day for Irish boxers at the world championships in Milan yesterday.

The hat-trick means that Ireland still have nine of the 11-man team remaining in the tournament with Olympic silver medallist, Kenny Egan, and bronze medallist, Paddy Barnes, both in action over the weekend.

John Joe Nevin, who was bitterly disappointed with his performance in Beijing last year when he failed narrowly to make the quarter finals, left no doubt about his ambitions at those championships when he hammered out an emphatic 19-4 victory over Ramir Najafov (Azerbaijan) in an action-packed bantamweight opener.