Another Olympic boost for fighting Irish

THE Irish boxers head into the second and final week of the world boxing championships in Baku with nine members of the 10-man team still standing and the prospect of Olympic qualification looming midweek.

Six of the seven boxers in action over the weekend won their contests with the only disappointment coming in the light welterweight division where European champion, Ray Moylette (St. Anne’s, Westport), made a timid exit on the wrong side of a 19-7 against Manoj Kumar (India).

New super heavyweight Connie Sheehan (Clonmel) provided the performance of the weekend in the form of a second round victory over Faruth Kalonov (Tajikistan). After winning the first round 9-3 he forced Kalonov to take a standing count before the referee stopped the contest 2 mins 20 secs into the second.