Darren weighs in with tale fit for the movies

IRISH boxers have brought the country to heights not reached since Melbourne in 1956 as Darren Sutherland claimed a third Olympic medal in Beijing.

Like Kenneth Egan and Paddy Barnes the previous day, Darren Sutherland clinched a bronze medal and put himself in line for silver and better when he outpointed Alfonso Blanco Parra from Venezuela in a thrilling middleweight quarter-final.

And if there is a film to be made about our boxers’ exploits, the 26-year-old Dubliner will be the perfect subject.

Here is a man who left school at 16 to pursue a professional boxing career alongside Prince Naseem in Sheffield, had second thoughts four years later and returned to school at 20 to do his Leaving Cert.

He then suffered a career-threatening eye injury a couple of years ago but has managed to fight back and win an Olympic medal.

“It’s brilliant to win the medal but there’s still a job to do,” he said as he looked forward to tomorrow’s semi-final clash with arch-rival, James Degale of Great Britain. They have clashed five times previously and Sutherland has won four of those.

“We’ll do our celebrations when we get home,” Darren said.

“For now, I’m still in the competition. I’m through to the semi-finals. I’m going to go home now and prepare like I would for any other fight.”

He had a small part in the film Sparrow’s Trap which was written and produced by Brendan O’Carroll when he was spotted by Naseem’s trainer, Dubliner Brendan Ingle, and he packed his bags and went to the Ingle Gym in Sheffield.

“I specialised too early I think and I had no life. I went back to school, did the Leaving, got into university and that gave me the freedom to pursue my boxing career with no regrets because had something to fall back on at the end of the day.

“I went back to secondary school in St Peter’s in Dunboyne — the principal there was brilliant to take me back and I’ll tell you what, I’ll be going back to show off my Olympic medal at some point, to show them what hard work can do but the job’s not finished.

“I was nearly 21, I finished my Leaving Cert at 22 and that was in a school where some students hadn’t even done transition year so they were 15. That was very hard. I had to wear a uniform — green blazer and tie — the whole lot. I’ve only one picture that my mum has got and I wouldn’t let her take any more.”

Tomorrow he will join Kenneth Egan and Paddy Barnes in the semi-finals of the Olympic tournament at the Workers’ Gymnasium with himself and Egan among the favourites to progress to the finals at the weekend.

Of the 23 Olympic medals won for Ireland, 12 have been won by boxers. In 1956 Fred Teidt, Freddie Gilroy, John Cauldwell and Ollie Byrne won four medals while Michael Carruth won gold and Wayne McCullough silver in Barcelona in 1992.

Olympic boxing hall of fame

By Claire O’Sullivan

* This is Ireland’s best boxing tournament since 1956 — with the country assured of three medals.

* The boxers failed to win any medals at the Athens Olympics in 2004.

* In 1952, John McNally took a silver at Helsinki.

* At Melbourne, Ireland won four medals — silver for Fred Tiedt, and bronze for Tony Byrne, Freddie Gilroy and John Caldwell.

* Jim McCourt won bronze at Tokyo in 1964 and Hugh Russell added another during the Moscow Games in 1980.

* At Barcelona 1992, Michael Carruth became the first Irishman to win an Olympic gold for boxing while Wayne McCullough brought home a silver.

* Darren Sutherland fights Britain’s James Degale in the semi-final at 8am on Friday. Paddy Barnes is next up at 12 noon against China’s Shiming Zou. Kenneth Egan fights Britain’s Tony Jefferies at 2pm.