McDonagh and McLaughlin book places on the Irish team for European Elite Championships

Michael McDonagh and Willie McLaughlin claimed the lightweight and welterweight places on the Irish team for next month's European Elite Championships following edge-of-the-seat wins over the St Michael's Athy pair of David Oliver Joyce and John Joe Joyce in this morning's Box-Off finals at the National Stadium yesterday.

McDonagh, from the St Mary's BC in Dublin, beat David Oliver Joyce - in a repeat of the 2011 Elite lightweight final which McDonagh won - 10-9.

And McLaughlin, who boxes out of the Illies GG club in Donegal, had one point to spare over John Joe Joyce, the Donegal man winning 9-8 in the welterweight class.

The IABA used the Box-Offs to decided the 60Kg and 69Kg places on the Irish team for the 2011 European Elite Championships which begin in Ankara, Turkey on June 14th.

The ten-man Irish squad arrived Sheffield this morning (May 29th) for a training camp with Great Britain, Poland and Estonia. The squad will return home on June 5th before traveling to Ankara on June 11th.

Ireland claimed five medals, one gold, one silver and three bronze, at the 2010 European Elite Championships in Moscow to finish second in the medals table behind powerhouses Russia.