Military drill for Olympic hopefuls

With his second Elite senior championship medal safely stashed away alongside world championship youth, junior and European senior gold medals, Joe Ward’s quest for Olympic qualification continues when he joins the other champions at an intensive training regime under Billy Walsh at The Curragh.

The military surrounds is a fitting setting as the seven remaining champions from Friday night’s final, who will be joined by the already qualified Michael Conlan, John Joe Nevin and Darren O’Neill, begin their preparations for a last shot at Olympic qualification in Trabzon on the shores of the Black Sea in April.

Ward has made no secret that his failure to qualify at the world championships in Baku last year has been “eating” at him ever since. But he also admitted it could well have been a blessing in disguise as he was able to learn from his mistakes.

“Now I can concentrate on the Olympic qualifiers in Turkey,” he said. “I can go in now and use them.

“The way I look at it, we have a very talented team going to the Olympic qualifiers and we are all right in there with a chance.”

His emphatic victory over Kenny Egan on Friday boosted his confidence no end because he had beaten the Olympic silver medallist for a second time.

“I knew all the time I was going to win, but I wanted to know myself how good could I win and how much I could win by, ” he said.

“When you go in there and beat Kenny Egan by 19 points that’s a big achievement. That particular job was done, I didn’t want to do anything stupid.”

Olympic bronze medallist Paddy Barnes also disappointed in Baku but he got his bid for qualification back on track when he became the first Belfast boxer to win six national senior titles with a 21-17 win over Hugh Myres (Ryston).

The squad will begin an eight-day training camp in The Curragh on Thursday and go to Cologne for a second training camp from February 28 to March 11.

They then go to the Chemistry Cup Multi-Nations tournament in Halle, Germany, on March 13 and on to the Ukraine for another training camp flying directly to the qualifiers.

“Everyone knows I am good enough — not just to qualify but to win a gold medal in the Olympics,” Barnes said. “I’m confident I can get one of the four remaining qualifying spots for the Olympics. I feel I’m the best light flyweight in Europe and I want to prove that.”

Paddy Barnes, lightweight Michael McDonagh, light welter Ross Hickey, welterweight Adam Nolan, light heavyweight Joe Ward, heavyweight Tommy McCarthy and super heavy Con Sheehan were all ratified yesterday for the Olympic qualifier.

From the Baku team, Michael McDonagh replaces David Oliver Joyce after retaining his title on Friday night, Ross Hickey (Grangecon/Army) also gets his first shot at qualification, replacing Ray Moylette, as does Tommy McCarthy, who lost out in a controversial bout with Kenny Egan in last year’s box-off.