Egan looks Hungary for success

KENNETH EGAN (Neilstown) will face a Hungarian opponent tomorrow afternoon in his quest for a medal at the European Union Boxing Championships in Arborea, Sardinia.

He is the sole Irish survivor following yesterday’s session that saw middleweight Eamonn O’Kane (St. Canice’s) go under emphatically, 41-19, to the lightning fast Artur Zwargcz from Poland.

And while the tough Derryman was clearly out-pointed there was amazement all round by scoring as every punch appeared to merit a point.

“To be honest it appeared as if the judges were hitting the button for every punch even the punches that were not cleanly landed,” High Performance Director, Gary Keegan, said.

But Egan left nothing to chance in his contest when he exacted some revenge on Tarban Yildrin from Turkey, the man responsible for keeping him out of last year’s Olympic Games.

In fact the Turk had beaten the Dubliner twice before this meeting and Egan made it quite clear from the first bell that it was not going to happen again.

He was leading by nine points when Yildrin’s corner pulled him out in the first round.

Now Egan goes forward as one of the favourites to win the light heavyweight title - a performance that would enhance his reputation.

Both light flyweight Conor Aherne (Baldoyle) and welterweight, Karl Brabazon (St. Saviours) were beaten earlier in the tournament before Eamon O’Kane, who replaced the unavailable Andy Lee, lost out yesterday.