McCarthy gets Irish challenge off to winning start in Kazakhstan

Tommy McCarthy got Ireland’s World Elite Championships campaign underway with a unanimous decision over Nikolay Mutavski in Kazakhstan yesterday.

The Belfast heavyweight was handed a 29-28, 30-27, 29-28 verdict over the Bulgarian after three, three minute rounds in Almaty.

The Korean judge awarded the Irish champion all three rounds while the Argentine and Chinese officials each gave him two of the three following a hard-punching and tactical contest.