Starting this week, Metro Eireann’s new columnist Bernard O’Neill, of the Irish Amateur Boxing Association, will be giving us a weekly run-down on what is happening in the world of Irish boxing. Bernard kicks off his column by giving us a sneak preview of what is set to be the highlight of the European boxing calendar, the 2007 European Union Championships in Dublin next month
Irish boxers John Joe Joyce and Aodh Carlyle will fight it out for a place on the Irish team for this month’s European Union Championships at the National Stadium in Dublin.
Gary Keegan, who heads the Irish Amateur Boxing Assoc-iation’s (IABA) High Perfor-mance Unit, confirmed that Joyce (St Michael’s Athy) and Carlyle (Golden Cobra) would meet in a one-off 64kg bout at the Stadium on 9 June. Whoever emerges victorious from that showdown will then represent their country at light welterweight level at the European Union Champion-ships at the Stadium between 17 and 25 June 17.
The IABA yesterday named eight reigning senior champions, under High Performance coaches Billy Walsh, Zuar Anita and Jim Moore, on an 11-man panel for the tournament.
Nineteen nations – Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, France, England, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Holland, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Poland, Scotland, Spain, Slovakia, Turkey, Wales and Ireland – have already been confirmed for the eagerly awaited tournament, which will take place at the South Circular Road venue later this month.
The President of the World Boxing Association (AIBA), Dr Ching-Kuo Wu, who brought the controversial reign of ex-AIBA chief Anwar Chowdhry to an end at a Congress vote in Santo Domingo last year, will be a special guest of the IABA for the tournament. Dr Wu’s presence in Dublin will have an added significance as the IABA will bid to host the 2011 World Championships in its centenary year at the National Stadium. That tournament will act as a qualifier for the 2012 Olympic Games in London. However, the Amateur Boxing Association of England is also bidding for the event, which they propose to hold in the London Docklands venue which will host boxing at the Olympic Games.
Meanwhile, Neilstown light heavyweight Ken Egan, who will be targeting his fourth EU championship medal in Dublin, is back in contact training following an injury to his left hand.
“I am very eager to get some competitive action under my belt, and the European Union Championships will be ideal in that respect as there are some top class nations taking part,” he says.
“This is a massive year for Irish amateur boxing and our focus is on the World Championships in Chicago in October, which will also act as a qualifier for the Beijing 2008 Olympics. But first up is the European Union tournament; I will be hoping to win my fourth medal in a row here and I would be confident that I will do well.”
Welterweight Roy Sheehan has also made a welcome return from a hand injury, and his inclusion in the squad will be a big boost for Ireland ahead of the tournament. But reigning featherweight champ David Oliver Joyce is still out injured and he has been replaced by Carl Frampton form the Midlands White City club in Belfast.
Gary Keegan said: “We have named our strongest possible squad from who is available and I would be confident that we will do well at the European Union Championships.”
Keegan has reason to feel confident, as 19 Irish boxers have reached the finals of major international tournaments in Europe this year and the IABA has bagged almost 30 medals.
Middleweight Darren Suth-erland, from the St Saviours OBA club, will be another one to watch at the Stadium this month, but the DCU Sports Science student knows that Darren O’Neill is vying for his 75kg Irish vest.
In an almost ironic reversal of fortunes, Sutherland lost his place on the Irish team to O’Neill after sustaining a serious eye injury last year, and O’Neill went on to win gold and the boxer of the tournament award at the GeeBee Multi Nations event in Finland in 2006.
However, O’Neill then picked up the hand injury which denied Irish boxing fans the opportunity to see him go head-to-head with Sutherland, who had since recovered from his injury, at last January’s senior championships.
Sutherland went on to win his second senior title on the trot and reclaim the 75kg Irish vest ahead of winning four senior Multi Nation medals, including one gold since January. But O’Neill, of the Paulstown club in Kilkenny, landed gold at a senior Multi Nations in the Czech Republic this month in his first international outing of the year.
Gary Keegan admitted that the competition for places between the duo has given him an ideal selection headache, and for now possession is nine-tenths of the law for Sutherland.
“Darren O’Neill has done well, [he] has forced me to raise my game even further and it’s great for the High Performance Team to have the choice between two world class middle weights – the more rivalry the better,” says Sutherland, “but I am confident I will be representing Ireland in June.”
St Michael’s Athy welterweight Roy Sheehan has also recovered from a hand injury, and all going well the IABA will have a full strength squad to choose from ahead of championships, which will feature some of Europe’s finest boxers. Sutherland is in third position in Europe in the ABA rankings just released for May, while O’Neill is in sixth place. Egan is ranked third in the 81kg European section.
In further international news, Irish coach Jim Moore reckons that the recent International Round Robin Cadet Champ-ionships at the National Stadium were ideal preparation for both the upcoming European and European Union Cadet Championships.
“We will be announcing a squad of five for the European Union tournament and a squad of nine for the European Championships a week later,” says Moore.
“Both tournaments will be highly competitive as there can be an age gap of up to two years between boxers. However, this can also work to our advantage at times.”
