Michael O’Reilly’s Olympic path has been a rocky road
Qualification for Brazil was an extremely arduous process for O’Reilly who was forced to overcome a series of hurdles, many seemingly of his own making, before he made the Irish team.
Prior to his qualification for the Games, the 23-year-old father of two had to come through a selection process due to previous disciplinary issues.
And those episodes only came after the Portlaoise clubman was on the end of a highly-contentious points decision in an Olympic box-off qualifier at the World Championships in Doha last October.
That loss against Egyptian Hosam Abdin is a good place to start when reviewing O’Reilly’s long and dramatic journey to Rio.
The Irish middleweight had entered the World Championships as a two-time Irish Elite champion - not considered a certainty to seal Olympic qualification but fancied by many to do so.
O’Reilly recorded an impressive quarter-final win over Kazakhstan’s reigning world champion Zhanubek Alimhanuly, boxing off the back foot while delivering one of the most impressive Irish performances of the tournament.
His laid-back attitude seemed to haunt him in his next outing, however, as he failed to fire in a crunch bout against former underage world champion Bektemir Melikuziev. The loss left O’Reilly facing a must-win fight to reach Rio as only the top three middleweights in Doha qualified for Rio.
Fate was against O’Reilly as a highly-questionable points decision was awarded to Egyptian Abdin in their third-place box-off, despite the Irishman dominating the clash.
To those of us present at the Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, it appeared an incredibly harsh decision. Subsequent analysis from the Irish boxing team showed O’Reilly landed 60 percent more punches than Abdin. The fact the contest was one of the only bouts not to have live scoring broadcast in the arena added to the sense of paranoia.
“I thought in my own mind I won three rounds,” said O’Reilly. “There’s something going on because anyone who watched that fight would know I won.”
From there, O’Reilly’s Olympic dream looked more daunting but not impossible.
He bounced back to retain his Irish title at the 2016 edition of the national championships, which were held last December to ease a hectic pre-Olympic calendar this year.
First-time finalist Connor Wallace was his only real test in the decider – but it was one the champion passed with relative ease.
Wallace, however, would soon become a major player in the drama that would accompany O’Reilly’s next Olympic qualification opportunity in Samsun, Turkey last April.
The 23-year-old O’Reilly was hot favourite to qualify through the European qualifiers, but he lost out to unheralded Finn Ilari Kijala in his first bout. O’Reilly cited injury after the loss, but a story subsequently emerged of disciplinary issues surrounding him and Wexford light-welterweight Dean Walsh (nephew of former Irish head coach Billy).
The Irish Sun revealed in May that the pair had been fined and sent home due to alleged acts of indiscipline. Their punishment was later decreased to reimbursing the Irish Athletic Boxing Association (IABA) for the travel costs involved in sending the pair home from Turkey. Irish interim head coach Zaur Antia was livid over the incident while sources suggested that other members of the international senior squad were so annoyed that some called for the two to be removed from the team.
Antia eventually opted to bring both Walsh and O’Reilly to Azerbaijan for a June pre-tournament training camp ahead of making a call on who would compete at a world Olympic qualifier in Baku.
O’Reilly showed renewed discipline during the camp and is understood to have had the better of Wallace - his chief rival for the Irish 75kg spot at the tournament - in sparring. Ironically Wallace has since become a sparring partner for Conor McGregor.
O’Reilly continued to show his dedication throughout the tournament, sealing his place in Rio before claiming gold having received a walkover in the final. O’Reilly was coy on the selection process that followed his indiscipline when speaking to this reporter over a month ago prior to Team Ireland’s departure for Rio.
“There was a lot of talk about it,” said O’Reilly. “He [Wallace] was brought out to Baku with me and we had a test match out there, I came out on top easy and they had no other choice than to pick the best boxer.
“It was a testing experience,” he admitted. “I knew it was my last chance to qualify so I had to give it everything and be in top shape. I was in the best shape I’ve ever been in condition wise.”
When asked was he ever concerned about his selection after his disciplinary issues, O’Reilly said: “I wasn’t worried, but it was just running through my mind and I had to give it everything.”
O’Reilly first announced his talent on the international stage when claiming silver at the European Youth Championships at City West in 2011. Ironically, he was then also on the wrong end of a questionable 16-15 points loss to Russia’s Igor Kharitonov in the welterweight decider.
“All I know is I won the fight but didn’t get the decision,” the then 18-year-old said at the time. He had already displayed a similar fighting attitude when he went to the High Court to successfully challenge an IABA decision to remove him from the team to compete at the tournament following another alleged act of indiscipline.
Supporting him through that case was club coach Pat Ryan, who is now president of the IABA and left in an awkward position as he awaits the Olympic fate of his protégé.
READ HOW THE STORY BROKE HERE:
Olympic boxer Michael O'Reilly suspended following drugs test fail
Irish boxer who failed drug test in build-up to Rio Olympics named and provisionally suspended
Ireland's preparations for Olympics in tatters as Michael O'Reilly suspended
Groups urged to back Michael O’Reilly from a backlash
Irish athlete not the first to take a hit for positive test
Irish Olympics scandal: Failed test ‘no innocent mistake’
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