A 13-man Irish senior boxing squad will jet out to France on Monday for their second last training camp before October’s World Championships in Chicago.
Irish boxing chiefs have announced an 11-man panel for the World Championships which will also act as a qualifier for the 2008 Olympic Games. The global tournament, which gloves off at the University of Illinois on 23 October, has attracted 115 nations – making it the biggest in world amateur boxing history.
The Irish squad, under coaches Billy Walsh and Zuar Antia, is more or less the same panel that dominated last June’s EU Championships at the National Stadium in Dublin, winning three gold and two silver medals. But national senior featherweight champ David Oliver Joyce comes in instead of Carl Frampton, who won silver at the EUs.
However, Frampton and Darren O’Neill have both been included in the squad for the training camp in France and a final training camp in Germany in October. Both boxers will then take part in a Multi Nations tournament in Cyprus, while the 11-man World Championships squad depart for Chicago on 16 October.
Commentating on the Irish squad, Gary Keegan, who directs the Irish Amateur Boxing Association’s (IABA) High Performance Unit, noted that they were heading into the most crucial month of the year.
He said: “We have made no secret of the fact that the World Championships is our target this year and now it is just a matter of weeks away. The training camps in France and Germany will help us fine tune our preparations ahead of Chicago and the squad will travel well prepared.
“We are heading into what will be a very exciting month for Irish boxing, and everyone in the squad is looking forward to the challenges ahead.”
In pro news, unbeaten Irish middleweight Andy Lee will headline the first show of his professional career in Chicago on 2 October next against an opponent yet to be named.
The Limerick southpaw, now boxing out of the Kronk Gym in Detroit, is then due to have his 13th pro contest in Detroit on 11 October before heading back to Chicago to cheer on the Irish amateur squad at the World Championships.
Lee is the last Irish boxer to represent his country at the Olympic Games, having qualified for Athens for the European Championships in Croatia after reaching the semi-finals and winning a bronze medal despite a hand injury.
“I will be keeping my fingers crossed for the Irish team at the World Championships and I will be there to cheer them on,” says Lee of his amateur compatriots.
“The World Championships are intense enough in their own right but with Olympic qualification also in the mix it will be extremely competitive. However, the lads have the quality and experience to make an impression in Chicago and I believe they will do well.”
The former Irish Olympian is also hoping to box in his hometown of Limerick in November this year, and is keeping his fingers crossed that the promotion will go ahead.
He said: “It will be a very busy time for me over the next few weeks… I have made no secret of my desire to box in Limerick. I loved boxing in Dublin last month. But Limerick is my town and I would love to perform there. However, we will have to wait and see if it can be arranged.”
In further pro news, the last time a Spaniard fought in Dublin, Bernard Dunne bid adios to his unbeaten record and European super bantamweight title following Kiko Martinez’s shock victory at the Point last month.
But undefeated Irish middleweight John Duddy insists that lightning will not strike twice and that he will survive his Spanish inquisition at the National Stadium in Dublin next month.
Derry-born Duddy, 28, will meet Spain’s Pablo Navascues in his 22nd pro fight at the home of Irish amateur boxing on 20 October. The clash will be the main attraction on a ‘Celtic Tigers’ fight card which will also feature Matthew Macklin and Paul McCloskey.
Duddy said: “I really enjoyed my first fight as a pro in Dublin last July as there was a fantastic atmosphere, and I don’t intend to disappoint my Irish fans when I fight there again in October.”
However, 31-year-old Madrid born Navascues, who has lost just one from 25, sees Duddy as a way of fast tracking his career, and believes it will be an honour to beat him.
He said: “I want to fight prestigious boxers like Duddy because I don’t have time to waste in my career. I would like to fight for a major title early next year and this fight can help to get me there.”
“Duddy is a good boxer with a lot of power in both hands. I admire what he has achieved in his career in the US, but Europe is different.
“Our records are similar and I’m sure that both of us will be at our best. I also think that our styles are quite similar and it will be an honour to beat him!
“My only fight abroad was in Russia a long time ago and I won that by a second-round knockout. I actually enjoy fighting away because I don’t have the pressure of fighting in front of my own supporters.
“I think Kiko Martinez was lucky because Dunne is a good boxer with a great future. I plan on the same outcome as Martinez, but I won’t need luck to do it. I will prove my ability against Duddy.”
