McCloskey gets Olympic bid off to good start
Tonight the Derry man meats a Croatian but to get to the final and achieve Olympic qualification he will have three more contests.
With European bronze medallist Andy Lee through to Athens, Ireland’s remaining Olympic hopefuls re-launched their campaign for Olympic qualification at tournaments in Warsaw and Plovdiv, Bulgaria, yesterday.
There was one notable absentee when they went to the scales in Warsaw.
Flyweight Paul Hyland failed to make the weight before they broke camp in Heidelberg where they had put the finishing touches to their preparations and he was sent home.
“It is one of those problems and part of the development process,” Garry Keegan, High Performance Director, said.
“The lad is just growing and that has to be accepted.”
Everyone else, however, was fit and well and ready for the assignment and young Eric Donovan found himself in an interesting situation when he was drawn against a German named Crachow for his opening bout today.
The Athy lad, who won every title available last year including national junior and senior titles as well as a four nations senior title, has sparred the German a number of times at the training camp in Germany.
“It is going to be interesting,” coach Billy Walsh said.
“They have sparred each other and there was always going to be the possibility they would meet at some stage in the tournament.
“It is a difficult bout to read. There is very little between them and it could well go down to who wants it the most.
“One thing is certain, it is going to be an exciting contest. Both boys throw a lot of punches.”
Donovan, winner of an Irish Examiner Youth Sports Star Award a couple of weeks ago, was unlucky to lose his opening contest in the European championships.
The boxing does not get underway until today in Plovdiv where light flyweight Conor Ahern (Baldoyle) has drawn a boxer from the Ukraine.
Welterweight Henry Coyle drew a Hungarian. Kenneth Egan, one of the most experienced boxers in the squad, drew a Swede for his opening contest.
Super heavyweight Martin Rogan (Immaculata) was given no favours when he drew the Pole who made the last eight at the European championships.
“He is very big and very strong,” Billy Walsh insisted.
“This is a very difficult task but Martin is also very strong and a big lad as well. It is going to be another interesting contest.”
Lightweight champion Andrew Murray was favoured with a bye and will not be in action until tomorrow.
In Warsaw, featherweight Martin Lindsey (Immaculata) will be getting his first shot at qualification, having missed the Europeans along with his clubmate, Rogan, and heavyweight Alan Reynolds.
Lindsey drew a Turk in his opening contest, while Reynolds from Sligo also got a place in the opening session. He drew a boxer from Bulgaria for his opening contest.
“The draw was not favourable by any means but everybody is well prepared,” Gary Keegan said.
“Everybody has worked extremely hard and morale in both camps is very high.”
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