Five Irish boxers win medals at Strandja, four to fight for upgrades 

Louis Rooney, Adam Hession, Dean Clancy and Jack Marley have secured bronze medals and will fight for a finals spot on Saturday. Ciara Walsh will head home with a bronze.

Paris Olympian Jack Marley (92kg) will box Uzbekistan's Turabek Khabibullaev for a medal upgrade at the 76th Strandja Tournament. Picture: Bulgarian Boxing Federation

Four Team Ireland boxers will contest for medal upgrades at the Strandja Memorial Tournament, Europe’s oldest boxing competition, which takes place in Bulgaria.

The 18 strong Irish team includes two Paris Olympians in Jack Marley and Dean Clancy, the reigning European 50kg champion, Shannon Sweeney, 2024 European Elite bronze medalist Niamh Fay and two reigning European U23 Champions – Louis Rooney and Patsy Joyce.

Ciara Walsh (48kg), contesting her first benchmark tournament, will come home with bronze, following her semi-final today against Kazakhstan’s Aigerim Saattibayeva.

Louis Rooney (48kg) will box for a medal up-grade against Uzbekistan’s Behruz Kholdorov; team captain, Adam Hession (60kg), meets Tokyo Olympian and 2021 world medalist, Serik Temirzhanov of Kazakhstan. 

Paris Olympian, Dean Clancy, (62.5kg) contests for a finals berth against Mukhammedsabyr Bazarbayuulu of Kazakhstan, a fellow Paris Olympian. 

Heavyweight and Paris alum, Jack Marley meets reigning Asian champ and fellow Olympian, Turabek Khabibullaev.

The men’s semi-finals will be boxed on Saturday, March 1st. Finals and medal ceremonies will take place on Sunday, March 2nd.

222 athletes from 22 federations are competing at Strandja, including Ireland, Algeria, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria Chinese Taipei, China (Inner Mongolia), Croatia, Cyprus, England, France, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Ireland, Italy, Kosovo, Pakistan, Slovakia, Turkey, Uzbekistan and Wales.