BOXING Irish boxer John Joe Nevin qualifies for Beijing Olympics
Irish captain Ken Egan lost his quest to secure Olympic qualification after losing his light heavyweight semi final to Ramazan Magamedau from Belarus in Pescara, Italy today.
Egan was being tipped to advance from this afternoons decider but at the end of four very competitive rounds it was Magamedau that had his hand raised in victory following a 17-13 verdict.
Boxers winning their semi final bouts in Pescara automatically qualify for the 2008 Olympics.
Earlier this afternoon, John Joe Joyce's brave attempt at Olympic qualification ended in disappointment after he was beaten by experienced Romanian light welterweight Ionut Gheorghe.
Following an epic last four battle on the Adriatic coast, Joyce, from the St Michael's Athy club, was five points adrift (25-20) when the bell rang for the end of the fourth and final round.
Cavan bantamweight John Joe Nevin was the first Irish boxer into the ring today and he booked his ticket for the Beijing 2008 Olympics in style courtesy of a 32-16 semi final win over Ukrainian Maksym Tretyak in Pescara.
Tretyak was ahead by two points at the end of the second round, but 19 year old Nevin, from the Cavan Boxing club, staged yet another stunning fight back to claim victory by a sixteen point margin.
(Nevin v Tretyak: Scores at end of first three rounds) 4-4,9-11,24-14 Final score (32-16).
Having already secured Olympic qualification, Nevin went onto win gold in the final of the tournament.
The final Olympic qualifying tournament for European boxers will be held in Athens between April 7th and 14th.
Irish boxers that failed to secure Olympic qualification in Pescara this week will go into a box-off at the National Stadium in Dublin on March 14th/15th with the semi finalists from the 2008 Senior Championships to decide the Irish squad for Athens.
Light flyweight Paddy Barnes, from the Holy Family club in Belfast, qualified for the Olympics after reaching the quarter finals of the World Championships at the University of Illinois in Chicago last November.
Semi Final Results Friday February 29th.
54Kg:John Joe Nevin (Ireland) beat Maksym Tretyak (Ukraine) 32-16
64Kg: John Joe Joyce (Ireland) lost to Ionut Gheorghe (Romania) 20-25
81Kg: Ken Egan (Ireland) lost to Ramazan Magamedau (Belarus) 13-17
(Boxers winning their semi final bouts will qualify automatically for the 2008 Olympics)
Final Draw Saturday March 1st
54Kg: John Joe Nevin (Ireland) v Veaceslav Gojan (Moldovia) or Rustamhodza Rahimov (Germany)
February 27th Quarter Final Results
54Kg: John Joe Nevin (Ireland) beat Detelin Dalakliev (Bulgaria) 16-15
60Kg: Ross Hickey (Ireland) lost to Miklos Varga (Hungary) 22-39
64Kg: John Joe Joyce (Ireland) beat Milan Piperski (Serbia) RET3
75Kg: Darren Sutherland (Ireland) lost to James deGale (England) 22-23
81Kg; Ken Egan (Ireland) beat Emil Krastev (Bulgaria) 29-8
91+Kg: Cathal McMonagle (Ireland) lost to Jaroslav Jaksto (Lithuania) 3-23
(Italian time applies above. Italian time is one hour ahead of Ireland)
February 26th Preliminary (Last 16) Results
51Kg: Conor Ahern (Ireland) lost to Martin Parlagi (Slovakia) 16-26
54Kg: John Joe Nevin (Ireland) beat Mirsad Ahmeti (Croatia) 23-8
60Kg: Ross Hickey (Ireland) beat Krsysztof Szot (Poland) 21-12
57Kg: David Oliver Joyce (Ireland) lost to Stephen Smith (England) 19-27
64Kg: John Joe Joyce (Ireland) beat Vasilii Belous (Moldovia) 20-12
75Kg: Darren Sutherland (Ireland) beat Ramis Baylarov (Azerbaijan) 25-16
81Kg: Ken Egan (Ireland) beat Myasnik Sargsyan (Armenia) RSCO3 (23-3)
91+Kg: Cathal McMonagle (Ireland) beat Renato Kovac (Slovakia) KO1
February 25th Preliminary Results
69Kg: John Joe McDonagh (Ireland) lost to Dmitrijs Sostaks (Latvia) 4-14
57Kg: David Oliver Joyce (Ireland) beat Azat Hobhannisyan (Armenia) 37-21
75Kg: Darren Sutherland (Ireland) beat James Quigley (Scotland) RSCO3 (23-3)
91Kg: Con Sheehan (Ireland) lost to Ilias Pavlidis (Greece) 9-15
Irish Squad By Club
(Flyweight) 51Kg: Conor Ahern (Baldoyle)
(Bantamweight) 54Kg: John Joe Nevin (Cavan)
(Featherweight) 57Kg: David Oliver Joyce (St Michael's Athy)
(Lightweight) 60Kg: Ross Hickey (Grangecon)
(Light Welterweight) 64Kg: John Joe Joyce (St Michael's Athy)
(Welterweight) 69Kg: John Joe McDonagh (Brosna)
(Middleweight) 75Kg: Darren Sutherland (St Saviours OBA)
(Light Heavyweight) 81Kg: Ken Egan (Neilstown)
(Heavyweight) 91Kg: Con Sheehan (Clonmel)
(Super Heavyweight) 91+Kg: Cathal McMonagle (Holy Trinity)
For more info:
Bernard O'Neill
Public Relations Officer
Irish Amateur Boxing Association
Ph: 086 057 9558
Fax: 061 408627
bernard.oneill@oceanfree.net
www.iaba.ie