Team Ireland looks to O'Rourke sisters after tough morning at European Elites

John McConnell has already won Ireland its first medal of these championships

Aoife O'Rourke, left, in action against Lina Wang of China in their Women's 75kg semi-final bout of the World Boxing Championships 2025 at M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool. Pic: Ben McShane/Sportsfile

Ireland’s boxers endured a difficult morning session at the 2026 European Elite Championships in Sofia with all three fighters failing to win contests that would have guaranteed them medals this week.

Paris Olympian Daina Moorehouse was the first of the five Irish in quarter-final action on the Tuesday. She exited the 51kg division on a 4-1 decision to Laura Fuentes Fernandez of Spain a World and European bronze medallist.

Evelyn Igharo (70kg) followed with a unanimous decision loss to England’s Chantelle Reid, a Paris Olympian, World Boxing Championships bronze medallist, and Commonwealth silver medallist who won every round on all five judges’ cards.

Jack Marley, a 2023 European Games silver medallist, went down to Georgia’s Georgii Kushitashvli, who made the podiums at both the 2022 Europeans and 2023 Worlds, in the 90kg section That was on a 4-1 decision.

Reigning World Champion Aoife O’Rourke (75kg) is in action in the evening session against world champion Agata Kaczmarska of Poland, as is her sister Lisa (80kg) who will meet 2025 World Boxing Championships silver medalist Emily Asquith of England.

Jon McConnell of Belfast’s Holy Trinity club delivered Ireland’s first medal of the event on Monday afternoon with a bruising 70kg quarter-final split decision win over Italy’s Gabriele Guidi Rontani that left both cut above the eye and docked a point apiece.

Already the 2026 Commonwealth Games champion, he fights again in a semi-final on Wednesday against Azerbaijan’s Nabi Isgandarov who is a World Boxing Cup Brazil bronze medalist this year.

Michaela Walsh, a double Olympian and 2026 Commonwealth Games silver medalist, takes on Bulgarian Stanimira Petrova in another medal fight in Wednesday’s evening session.

Petrova is a triple Olympian and 2014 World champion who has defeated the World and Paris Games silver medalist, Julia Szeremeta. Walsh and Petrova have met twice: at the 2019 European Games in Minsk, and at a Tokyo qualifier in 2021. They have one win apiece.

Jude Gallagher is another contesting a podium finish in that same session after a scintillating stoppage against Lounes Hamraoui of France on Monday. The Tyrone man is in against Cuban-born Spanish boxer, Ewart Andrés Marín Hernández, in the 60kg class.