Pressure-loving Dean Clancy one fight from Olympic qualification

ALMOST THERE: Dean Clancy is one fight away from Olympic qualification. File pic: Tyler Miller/Sportsfile

For Irish boxer Dean Clancy, the dream has never felt so real, the Paris Olympics now just one small step away. With his round-of-16 victory at the European Games in Poland on Sunday, the Sligo man stands on the brink of qualification for the ultimate sporting stage.

If he wins his 63.5kg quarter-final on Wednesday, Paris can officially be added to his 2024 wall planner. Clancy edged a close 3-2 bout on Sunday against Malik Hasanov of Azerbaijan and was “absolutely buzzing” with the victory, opening as it does a direct path to the Olympic stage. This was a contest that could have gone either way, and Clancy knew it.