THE IRISH A team are using one of Ireland’s most famous boxing clubs to prepare for a tournament against New York later this month. The Irish squad are being put through their paces at the Drimnagh BC in Dublin- home club of 1992 Olympic gold medallist Michael Carruth-ahead of their meeting with a New York Golden Glove selection in the Big Apple on 22 September.
The Irish Amateur Boxing Association (IABA) have named a ten man panel for the clash under team manager Paddy Osbourne, coaches Jimmy Moore and Christy McKenna, liaison officer Larry Morrison, and Frank Ward (R&J).
The A team will also compete in Belfast, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, Russia, and Poland over the next year, with a further trip to New Zealand also planned for March 2008.
The heavy schedule over the next twelve months will provide vital international experience for the A team, three of whom were included in an Irish squad which drew 8-8 on aggregate with Russia at the National Stadium and in Athlone last April.
Willie Casey, Karl Crawley, and Fergal Redmond were in action against the Russians with Casey, from Our Lady of Lourdes club in Limerick, recording a thrilling 17-12 win over Kirill Glumov at the Athlone Institute of Technology.
The Irish panel will travel to New York with confidence, but according to Larry Morrison they are facing a tough task at the Christ the King High School in New York.
He said: “The squad have been getting some very hard training sessions under their belts at the Drimnagh Boxing Club over the last few weeks and they will be well prepared for the tournament in New York.
“It will be a tough assignment as New York will name an experienced squad, but we are all very much looking forward to trip.
“We are using these tournaments and further tournaments in the coming year or so to give the Irish squad the experience of competing around the world”
The Irish squad will take part in an IABA Central Council box-off at the National Stadium in Dublin this Friday night ahead of their trip to the States. Meanwhile, the IABA are due to announce their squad for the 2007 World Boxing Championships in Chicago in October, this week.
A six, or possibly seven man panel will be unveiled for the Championships at the University of Illinois, and Gary Keegan, who directs the IABAs High Performance Unit reckons that the Championships without Cuba is a bit like the World Cup without Brazil. The World Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) have confirmed that the Cubans have not registered a team to enter the 2007 World Boxing Championships, which glove-off at the University of Illinois.
A record 114 nations, including Ireland, have entered the tournament, which will also act as a qualifier for the 2008 Olympic Games - making the World Championships the biggest in amateur boxing history.
The closing date for entries was 17 August and the AIBA had received 114 entries up to that point. However, the Cubans, who have won 60 gold medals at World Championship level since 1974, have not registered, as explained by an AIBA spokesman Richard Baker.
He said: “I can officially say that Cuba has not registered for the 2007 AIBA World Boxing Championships and was the only federation to officially confirm their non participation to AIBA while other federations just let the deadline slip by without any communication at all.
“Following confirmation of their non-participation via letter, AIBA has asked for a full explanation from the Cuba Federation and will wait for its response hoping to be able to help and support the federation in any way possible”
Last month Cuban President Fidel Castro threatened to pull the boxing team out of the World Championships because of two alleged defections from the Pan American Games in Brazil. Castro was speaking after Guillermo Rigondeaux and Erislandy Lara both failed to show up for the weigh-in Rio de Janeiro and reportedly fled to Germany to sign professional deals. Both have since returned to Cuba.
It is not clear whether Rigondeaux, a double Olympic and World bantamweight champion, and Lara, a World welterweight champion, will ever box for their country again, as Castro said that the duo had reached a "point of no return".
However, if, as now seems very likely, the Cubans will not box at the 2007 World Championships, they will have a further opportunity to secure Olympic qualification at next year’s Pan American Games.
Commentating on the situation with the Cubans, Gary Keegan of the IABA said: "We are aware of the situation with Cuba but we are concentrating all our efforts on our own selection process for our own squad. The World Championships without Cuba is a bit like the World Cup without Brazil. However, I have no doubt that the Cubans will be confident of securing qualification for Beijing from further Olympics qualifiers after October’s World Championships."
At the time of writing Irish light welterweight Jason Quigley advanced to the quarter finals of the 2007 World Cadet Championships following a convincing victory over Aliaksandr Hryhorchyk in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Quigley, from the Finn Valley Club in Donegal, beat the Belarus born boxer 15-5 and will now meet Anar Jafarov from Azerbaijan in the 63Kg quarter final.
Jafarov also recorded a convincing last 16 win today, beating Skakun Sergey from Kazakhstan 22-5.
If Quigley can advance from the last eight decider then he will be guaranteed at least bronze which will be Ireland’s first ever medal at World Cadet Championships level.
Quigley's win was a timely boost for the five-strong Irish squad in Baku following reversals for Paddy Harkin and Tyrone McCullough last weekend.
McCullough was beaten by Nadirov Bakhtiyar on Friday and Harkin lost out to Mikanov Jandos twenty four hours later. Bernard Roe and Conrad Cummins, who make up the five-man Irish squad in Baku. were both in action against Germany’s Victor Metern and Senev Pyshchyl from Moldova. Both bouts are last-16 clashes.
