Harrington to bid international boxing farewell with fight for second Olympic gold medal
Harrington will hang up her international gloves after her gold medal bout
There were any number of masterful moments from Kellie Harrington on her way to semi-final victory over Beatriz Ferreira, but as a nation prepares to celebrate the first Irish boxer to contest two Olympic finals, let us take two.
Round two, a cartoonish high left jab into the sky tricks the Brazilian into rising her guard. The right to the body is flush and pure. Clinically, Harrington picks off her points.
Round three, a one-two from the southpaw stance and a slip of Ferreira’s loaded spinout hook. Over to orthodox, a jab and an uppercut both find their target. Back to southpaw to let loose with a stinging left cross. At this point Ferreira is scrambling. She ended up facing the wrong way, clamping down on that left hand to delay further damage.
Saturday night’s final scorecard read 4-1. That did not truly reflect Harrington’s dominance. This might have been a chance for revenge as a rematch of the final in Tokyo three years ago, Ferreira has since joined the pro ranks under the guidance of promoter Eddie Hearn and manager Brian Peters, but if anything, the gulf has only grown. The solace for ‘The Beast’ is that there is no shame in it. Her opponent is one of the greatest the Games has known.
“It feels fantastic to get that fight out of the way,” she told the media post-fight.
“Beatriz is a fantastic opponent. Since Tokyo she has gone on to do great things in the professional ranks. I felt like I was the underdog in there today. I knew she had a point to prove. All anyone has been talking about is ‘You are going to meet Beatriz.’ I said, ‘It might never happen.’ But it has happened and thankfully it turned out the way it turned out.” Harrington’s legacy in the ring was already consolidated when she became the Irish woman to win medals at two Olympic Games. What she has achieved in the Paris Nord Arena over the past week is astonishing. With eight Irish fighters losing their opening round and no one else medalling, she leads the way for the team. Nothing new there.
Consider this: including Katie Taylor’s breakthrough of 2012, Ireland has been represented 11 times by women boxers at the Olympics. Some, like Harrington, have qualified more than once. She has more wins than the rest combined.
The past week has been defined by the lead-up to it. Last year, Harrington was at the centre of an online frenzy after refusing to answer a question about immigration during an interview. She subsequently apologised and withdrew from the limelight. In April, the 34-year-old suffered her first defeat in three years.
That testing experience has evidently left its mark. On several occasions last week, she spoke about the people who ‘have her back.’ The Portland Row homecoming promises to be powerful. This time there will be no bus driving down the road, she wants to walk with her arm outstretched and head held high.
This is the last hurrah. She has maintained that there will be no more international competitions after Paris and she has no interest in turning pro: “I’ll do national championships in Ireland again, but that’ll be it.” Ahead of a final against China’s Wenlu Yang on Tuesday night at Roland-Garros, Harrington has her ambitions clear.
“To me it is another arena and another opponent. Whatever will be, will be. I just want to be happy. I am already happy; I want to stay happy.” For Team Ireland, a gold medal won’t be enough to spare a harsh review into this collective result.
The good news is that the people to progress the unit are in place. Now they need the right support and replacement for outgoing IABA High Performance director Tricia Heberle. Harrington heaped praise on her man in the corner.
“I genuinely feel confident in the coaches and what they are telling me to do. The coaches, like Zaur has been with me since day one, since I started my international journey. All the coaches are great but when me and Zaur work together, it works.” This is Zaur Antia’s fifth Olympics. He was there for the upending disaster that was Rio 2016. He was there for the recovery in Tokyo. He is a man intimately familiar with Irish boxing’s history, and its ability to harm itself.
Antia came through the mix zone late on Saturday night, extolling the genius that is Harrington and her ring craft. As she prepares for a contest against a boxer she was defeated by in the 2016 World Boxing Championship final at 64kg, Antia stressed the onus is on everyone to learn from their mistakes.
“Look, of course it is very difficult. When you are coming home, you can’t say they robbed this or that. It doesn’t matter what happened. But this should make you more wise. That is what we did well before.”
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