BOXING World Championships Results Day Four

05 Sep 2009


Irish flyweight Declan Geraghty became the first Irish boxer to advance to the last 16 of the AIBA World Championshipsfollowing an 11-9 win over Macedonian, Mumin Veli this morning.

But Irish captain Eric Donovan bowed out after he was beaten 11-6 by Indian lightweight Jai Bhagwan despite winning the first round by a three point margin.

Nineteen year old Geraghty, the youngest member of the Irish squad, was involved in a see-saw 51Kg battle with Veli at the Mediolanum Forum.

The Dublin Docklands club-man was 3-0 up at the end of the first round and appeared to be cruising.

But Veli turned things around in the second to edge the frame 8-7 - despite conceding two points after receiving a public warning for dropping his head,

However, Geraghty pulled out all the stops in the third and final round, scoring fours points en route to victory.

Meanwhile, Donovan, from the St Michael's Athy club, was 4-1 up at the end of the first round and 5-3 ahead at the end of the second.

But Bhagwan tightened up his defense considerably in the final stanza and also managed to score eight points - most of the scores arriving in the final 40 seconds.

There are no more Irish boxers in action today.

Beijing Olympians Paddy Barnes and John Joe Nevin and European Union champion Darren O'Neill will be in action tomorrow.