Ireland hoping ‘bronze age’ turns to gold

Irish boxing wants to put the “bronze age” behind it at the AIBA World Men’s Elite Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Jason Quigley and Joe Ward will be aiming to upgrade their guaranteed bronze medals to at least silver in today’s middleweight and light-heavy semi-finals in Almaty.

Quigley meets Russia’s Artem Chebotarev around 10.30am and Ward faces Cuba’s 2011 World champion Julio Cesar De La Cruz-Peraza at approximately 3pm (Irish times).

Irish boxing had won seven medals (all bronze) up to Almaty. Quigley and Ward improved that total to nine bronze by virtue of reaching the last-four this week.

Their presence in today’s mix marks the first occasion that two Irish male boxers have reached the semi-finals and won two medals from the same World Elite Championships.

Tommy Corr (Munich 1982) Olympic champion Michael Carruth (Moscow 1989), Damaen Kelly (Tampere 1991), Stephen Kirk (Budapest 1997), James Moore (Belfast, 2001) and John Joe Nevin (Milan 2009 & Baku 2011) have all been at this stage before.

But all six boxers lost out at the last-four stage and had to settle for bronze. Likewise, Irish boxing has yet to advance a male boxer – Katie Taylor has reached four World Women’s finals and won them all – to an AIBA World final.

Quigley, who is boxing out of his skin over the last two years, and Ward, the first teenager in the world to win AIBA medals at Junior, Youth and Elite level, have the arsenals to changes that statistic.

“I love meeting World champions. If they’re Olympic and World champions all the better,” said Quigley, who turns 20 next Wednesday.

This is no idle boast as Ward hammered Russia’s current Olympic champion Egor Mekhontsev, the 2009 AIBA World champion, in the 2012 Chemistry Cup final in Germany.

Likewise with Quigley, who beat Ukraine’s World champion Evhen Khytrov en route to European gold in Belarus this summer.

Coach Billy Walsh, meantime, is happy going into another massive day for Irish boxing.

“I’m aware that Irish boxing has won bronze medals at this competition down through the years.

“We have the opportunity to break that duck tomorrow, he said.

“The guys have the opportunity to reach the finals of the World Championships.

“As you would expect at this stage of the competition we’re in against quality.

“But someone is going to reach Saturday’s finals. So, why can’t that be us? The opposition we’re in against are really amongst the best in the world.