Wily Joe Ward outclasses Russian but Dean Gardiner makes exit

Irish light-heavyweight Joe Ward eased into the last-16 of the European Elite Championships in Samokov, Bulgaria yesterday, but Dean Gardiner is out.

Ward, one of the youngest international boxers of all time to win European Elite gold when aged just 17 in 2011, outclassed Russia’s Idris Shakhmonov on a unanimous decision (30-25, 30-27, 30-26).

The Russian should have been given a standing count in the second after being doubled over from punches, but the ref, bizarrely, gave Ward a ticking off for hitting his opponent.