Sheehan faces fitness battle

Roy Sheehan is facing a race against time to be fit for the final Olympic qualifier for European boxers in Athens in April after breaking his left hand in sparring at the Irish squads training camp in Perugia, Italy yesterday.

Sheehan sustained the injury in a sparring session with the Latvian national team on Sunday afternoon and will miss the second last Olympic qualifier for European boxers which begins in Pescara, Italy next Saturday.

The 2008 welterweight champion from the St Michael's Athy club is due to arrive home today and will see a specialist to assess the full extent of his injury.

Commentating on the injury, high performance director Gary Keegan said that Sheehan was devastated.

He said: "Roy will fly home today to see a specialist in Dublin. The important thing now is to get the injury seen to and hopefully he can make a quick recovery.

"Roy is devastated with this injury as he has worked extremely hard in preparation for the Olympic qualifiers which are less than a week away.

"The Irish squad are very disappointed with this news and everyone involved with Irish boxing wants to see Roy make a speedy recovery from this injury."