Wexford star Nolan raring to go in Trabzon

Adam Nolan just can’t wait to touch gloves with Tamerlan Abdullayer (Azerbaijain) in Trabzon this evening.

The Wexford-born garda, who trains alongside Katie Taylor, under her father Pete in Bray, was very impressive against Tomasz Kot (Poland) on Monday evening. More of the same could earn him a victory that would put him two fights away from Olympic qualification, with the welterweight finalists going to London.

The fact he sparred Abdullayer at the recent training camp in the Ukraine is a big plus as they won’t have many secrets this time around.

Nolan’s close friend and neighbour, Daryl Jacob, piloted Neptune Collognes to victory in the Aintree Grand National on Saturday and he would like to give the Oulart-the-Ballagh fans something else to celebrate.

David Oliver Joyce will qualify for the Olympics if he defeats the Lithuanian lightweight, Evaldas Petrauskas, this afternoon. He too sparred Petrauskas at the training camp in the Ukraine where Irish coach Billy Walsh said they knocked lumps off each other.

Belfast heavyweight Tommy McCarthy faces a big assignment in his bid to qualify for the Olympics. Tonight he meets a good Hungarian, Josepf Darmos, for a place in the quarter-finals but he must win the gold medal at this tournament if he is to qualify for the London Games.