O’Neill ready to seize the day

Darren O’Neill has bittersweet memories of the medal ceremony at the Beijing Olympics when Kenneth Egan received his silver medal.

He celebrated with Egan, a friend and foe who defeated him in successive senior championship finals, but he couldn’t help thinking what might have been.

That year, after dropping down to middleweight, he lost a thriller to the late Darren Sutherland and, with that defeat, his Beijing dreams floated out the window. The medal ceremony brought the memories rushing back.