Nevin reaching for the top of the world

JOHN JOE NEVIN laid claim to a bronze medal and put himself in line for even greater things when he outpointed Chinese bantamweight Yu Gu, 7-5, to qualify for tomorrow semi-finals at the World boxing championships in Milan.

It was a day of mixed fortunes for Irish boxers. Olympic silver medallist, Kenny Egan, who has been struggling to regain his Beijing form, made a disappointing exit from the tournament when he was beaten 17-9 by French light heavyweight Abdelkader Bouhenia while Donegal welterweight, Willie McLaughlin, lost to 16-7 to the Russian, Andrey Zamkovoy.

Nevin, however, was brilliant against a Chinese bantamweight who ran out of ideas. After failing to throw a punch at one stage in the contest, Gu was given a public warning by the referee for his reticence. This cost him two points and that is the margin that separated the two boxers at the end.