Irish chase gold but Walsh rues the one that got away

Boxing: Ireland will be involved in three finals at today’s European Union Elite Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria.

But Irish head coach Billy Walsh believes it should be four: “We should have four in Saturday’s finals. Hugh Myers was hard done by and he should have got the decision,” said Walsh, who is working Ireland’s corner with Zuar Antia and Eddie Bolger.

Irish captain Darren O’Neill, David Oliver Joyce and Michael O’Reilly won their semi-finals at the 23-nation tournament yesterday.

Kilkenny southpaw O’Neill, who claimed gold at these Championships in Denmark in 2009, beat Mamadou Diabira. The French light-heavyweight took a standing count in the third after O’Neill connected with a huge left en route to a unanimous decision.

Portlaoise BC middleweight O’Reilly scored a career-best win over 2010 European Elite champion Balazs Bacskai on a split decision. O’Reilly and the Hungarian shared the first round, but O’Reilly burst clear after four unanswered shots in the second.

Joyce, who won gold at these Championships, will be aiming for a treble against Georgia’s Otar Eranosyan today. The St Michael’s Athy BC orthodox wore down Lithuanian lightweight Edgaras Skuddelis with the sheer volume of punches and pressure yesterday.

Hughie Myers was somehow adjudged to have lost to Slovakia’s Stefan Mezei in the light-fly semi-final, a decision which left the Irish corner shaking their heads. Myers connected with the majority of cleaner shots throughout the three rounds, but the judges opted for Mezei on a unanimous decision.

Billy Walsh added: “The team have done incredibly well to get three into the finals. This is a hostile environment, as everyone here is fighting tooth and nail to get to the finals and win gold.”

n Irish middleweight Jason Quigley faces Mexico’s Fernando Najera at the StubHub in Los Angeles tonight on the Shawn Porter v Kell Brook undercard.