Donovan’s Olympic bid cut short

LIGHT heavyweight Kenneth Egan got Ireland’s Olympic qualification bid back on track yesterday when he stopped Spaniard Mairo Duro on the 20 point rule 15 seconds into the third round of his opening contest.

But his victory did nothing to restore confidence in the judging system operating at these tournaments over the past couple of months.

The going has been tough inside and outside the ring and, in fact, it would be fair to state that one would almost have to nail an opponent to the floor to claim victory - that’s if you are outside what we once called the old Eastern Bloc.

And the most recent victim of the system was young Irish bantamweight, Eric Donovan, who did everything required of him in his opening contest only to be robbed by the bell.

The teenager from Athy found himself 16 points down going into the last round but had pulled the margin down to three and had his opponent, Giorgi Kilanava from Georgia, on the run when the final bell was sounded with 20 seconds remaining.

“Eric won the last three rounds hands down. In fact there was no way he should have been 16 points down going into the last round as he had won the previous two convincingly to everyone but the judges,” said High Performance Director, Gary Keegan.

“And then he literally beat his opponent to pulp in the final round. The Georgian was literally out on his feet when the ball saved him with 20 seconds remaining. We just could not believe it. In fact nobody in the stadium could believe it. It was atrocious.

“We lodged a protest afterwards and were given a rematch for today but that just was not good enough because there was no way we could allow Eric to box today. He could have had a problem with the weight and, also it would mean that he would have three bouts on successive days which is just not on.

"While he, himself, would want to box for obvious reasons we have to look after the health and welfare of the boxer. That has to be our primary concern.”

The fact that he would have to box the Azerbaijan bantamweight on his home turf the following night if he got through would not have made his task any easier.

“It has been a long, hard grind for us all.

“The standard of judging and the results have been soul destroying at times but you keep trying. People say it easier to win a medal at the Olympics than to qualify from Europe and I am beginning to believe it, added Keegan.”

Donovan, for the record, lost 36-33.

But Keegan was thrilled with the performance of Kenneth Egan, who left nothing to chance against Mario Buro of Spain in his quest for Olympic qualification. He always had the Spaniard on the back foot and the result was painfully obvious going into the third round when he piled on the pressure to make sure of victory.

“It was a good performance - positive and confident - and we would fancy his chances against the Swede in the next contest”. said Keegan.

Should Egan win tonight against the Swede, whom he beat 35-17 in Plovdiv, then he has a boxer from Azerbaijan looming up next.

Last evening James Moore, who won a bronze medal at the World Championships in Belfast in 2001 and replaced Henry Coyle for this tournament, made a quick exit when he was beaten on the 20 point rule in the second round of his welterweight contest with the former European champion, Ulusoy Bulent, from Turkey.