BOXING: Adam Nolan still daring to dream of making Rio

Adam Nolan is hoping to earn the chance to challenge recently-qualified Steven Donnelly for a place at next year’s Olympics.

Wexford welterweight Nolan begins the defence of his national elite senior title at the National Stadium tonight after receiving a bye to the semi-finals, in which he meets Michael Bustard of Antrim.

The Irish Amateur Boxing Association (IABA) are hosting the 2016 championships early in the build-up to next year’s Olympic qualifiers. Ballymena’s Donnelly was this week informed that he has reached qualification criteria for the Olympics through the World Series of Boxing (WSB), though that will not be formally confirmed until next week.