Nevin feels no pressure as he sets up dream final
In the other semi-final Luke Campbell, the 5ft 11ins bantamweight from Hull, beat Japan’s Satoshi Shimizu 20-11 to set up the predicted Ireland-England final.
Yesterday’s result means the Mullingar man now becomes the third bantamweight in Irish boxing history to win an Olympic silver medal after John McNally (1952) and Wayne McCullough (1992).
“I’m delighted with the performance,” he said.
“I’m performing better as it goes along. No matter what the eventual outcome is, I’m enjoying the whole thing. Kenneth Egan in Beijing enjoyed it and it took him so far. It’s got me to the final and hopefully I can go in there tomorrow and give it my best again and go out and enjoy the thing and come out smiling. I come out smiling every fight because I know my cousin, David, he’ll be with me.
“I’m enjoying the whole thing. As Billy said to me five years ago, this is my Games. I have proved him right now. One step further tomorrow — there are only three three-minute rounds. Hopefully I can go one step better.
“I have always felt there is nothing between me and the top boxers in the world. I proved that today. Saying that, I performed brilliantly today and I always say, if I don’t perform to my best the worst in the world can beat me. I just go in there and do my best. If it is good enough on the day it’s OK and if it’s not what can I do — just walk away and hold my head high and know I gave it my best shot.”
Nevin, who boxes out of the Cavan club, will renew rivalry with Campbell for the third time. When they met in the EU championships in Odense, Nevin beat Campbell, who was then the European champion, 13-2. While they met in the quarter-finals of the World Championships in Baku last year the judges tied the contest at 12 points apiece and Campbell won on countback.
Nevin became the first Irishman to win two World Championship medals that day but the decision left him devastated.
“Luke Campbell — it’s a real man that makes his own luck — hopefully I’ll get the luck tomorrow.
“I have a tremendous crowd around me as well. I’ve two tremendous coaches, psychologist, Gerry Hussey, I’ve a brilliant team around me.
“But I can only control what happens in the ring. The judges outside the ring — they’re not going to come into my head at all. I’m there to beat Luke Campbell. I’m focusing on nothing else but that. I’m not thinking about the crowd, the judges, the outcome, the medal.
“I’ll have to be relaxed again — keep the head down, not be getting over-excited about it. There are just nine minutes left in the competition. McDonald’s in Mullingar will be seeing me a lot when I get home.”
He was ruthlessly efficient against Alvarez, taking an early lead and then building on it.
“One round at a time,” he said. “Just because you’re up in the first round doesn’t mean you’ve the fight won. You’ve to go out and carry on, doing the same thing.
“I did better as the fight went along. I was more patient. I think he kind of gave up halfway into the last round. He kind of knew he wasn’t getting to me and he just kind of handed it to me then.
“We’re still not done yet. Hopefully I can join Katie for the gold tomorrow. It was amazing to see Katie do so well. No one deserves it more than her. The commitment she has is unbelievable.”
After Paddy Barnes’ disappointing loss, Nevin’s demolition of the world champion had the Irish camp buzzing again.
“The difference in emotions within half an hour of each other, it’s crazy stuff,” coach Billy Walsh said.
“It was doom and gloom [after Paddy Barnes] and then you’ve got to change your face for him and be up for him and get him ready, and make him believe that he can deliver.
“I began to think was our luck over, is this the point we’re only going to go to and thankfully John Joe got past it. As a boxer he’s so relaxed, he has so much inside himself and has so much enjoyment, he’s just a dream to coach when he’s in that mode.
“And there is nothing better than a British boxer and an Irish boxer to get a crowd going. I think it will be mouth-watering. Both nations will be up watching it.
“John Joe’s enjoying it and that’s making him so good. There’s no pressure on him. Campbell will be the favourite because he’s a British boy, a home town boy.
“So there’s no pressure on John Joe and he’ll go in and give it everything he has. If that’s good enough so be it. Either way we’ll hold our heads up high and be proud of everything we’ve done.”
Campbell, too, predicted a great fight, pointing out that his parents were also from Ireland.
“I think it’s going to be a close fight,” he said. “It is a brilliant crowd out there and they will be cheering us both on. I said at the beginning that it would be great to have me and Nevin in the final and here we are.
“I’ve got Irish family and they know his family — simple as that.”
Luke Campbell was born in Hull in 1987 and won a gold medal when Liverpool hosted the European championships in 2008 — after the Beijing Olympics.
The decision there went to countback 5-5 and when he was awarded the title he became the first Englishman to win a European amateur title since 1961.
Standing all of 5’11” he is remarkably tall for a bantamweight. Fighting out of the St. Paul’s ABC in Hull, he won his first ABA senior title in 2007.
He took part in the world championships in Milan in 2009 when he beat Rey Giovanni Vargas (Mexico) before going out of the tournament at the wrong end of an 11-9 verdict that went to Enkhjargal Iderkhuu (Mongolia).
John Joe Nevin won the first of his two bronze medals at that tournament and when they met that year for the first time that year in the quarter finals at the European Union Championships in Odense Nevin beat him 12-2.
He reversed that result, however, when they met in the quarter finals of the world championships in Baku last year. The bout was tied 12-12 and Nevin lost on countback before Campbell went on to lose to Lazar Alvarez (Cuba) 14-10 in the final.
Yesterday John Joe Nevin defeated Alvarez to qualify for tonight’s final.
Compiled by Brendan Mooney
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