Gloves off as major tournament hits Cork

CORK will host the biggest boxing tournament in those islands from November 4-8 and the event, which will draw nine nations to the Rochestown Park Hotel, could be the stepping stone to an Olympic qualifying tournament for the 2008 Games.

Both John Lynch, chairman of the CIE Group of Companies and a trustee of the IABA, and the president of the IABA, Dominic O’Rourke, said the upcoming multi-nations tournament ­ the first ever to be held in Ireland ­ could put this country in line for an Olympic qualifying tournament in 2008.

“That would certainly put Ireland in the limelight and it would also give Irish boxers an edge as boxers from the home nation always seem to do well in those tournaments,” insisted Dan O’Connell, chairman of the local organising committee.