THE AIBA qualification process for the 2008 Olympic Games in China concluded after the final bell at the 10th and final Olympic qualifier in Guatemala City on 30 April. And the good news for Irish amateur boxing is that five of the 286 boxers who will be competing at the Workers Arena in Beijing in August will be Irish. Ken Egan, Darren Sutherland, John Joe Joyce, John Joe Nevin and Paddy Barnes have all earned the right to wear the Olympic rings with pride, and all five will be carrying the hopes of the nation to the Chinese capital. Egan told the Irish Sun before the Olympic qualifiers that he would have no hesitation trading in every medal he has won in his glittering career for a place in Beijing.
But following his gold medal win at the final Olympic qualifier for Europeans in Athens – reaching the final was enough to secure his spot – Egan’s trophy cabinet will be remaining very much intact. The World Championships at the University of Illinois at Chicago in November 2007 was the first port of call for Irish boxers vying to secure Olympic qualification.
However, Holy Family Belfast light flyweight Paddy Barnes was the only Irish boxer to step over the line, and what a performance from the young Irish senior champion. Barnes stepped up to the plate in Chicago and took his opportunity quite literally with both hands to become the third Irish boxer this century (after Andy Lee and Michael Roche) and the fifth boxer from the Holy Family club to qualify for the Olympic Games, after beating North Korea’s Choi Jon Chuk, Iran’s Sadegh Faraj Zade and Japan’s Kenji Ohkubo to claim his place in Beijing. The bout with Ohkubo was a last 16 clash – boxers reaching the final eight qualified for the Olympics – and the Belfast man won convincingly 24–6. Next up was a shot at at least a bronze medal, but unfortunately it wasn’t to be for the newly ordained Irish 2008 Olympian as he was beaten by the reigning world champion, Shiming Zou from China, who went on to retain his title.
After Chicago, the focus of attention was beginning to switch toward the first Olympic qualifying tournament for Europeans in Pescara, Italy in February. But first up was the 2008 National Senior Championships at the National Stadium, a tournament that had double significance as boxers claiming or retaining their Irish titles would be part of the Irish squad for Pescara. However, the Italian qualifiers themselves began on a negative note with the bombshell that Roy Sheahan broke his left hand in a sparring session with a Latvian opponent at the Irish squad’s training camp outside Rome. It was a devastating blow for the St Michael’s Athy man, and for Irish boxing to lose one of Europe’s top welterweights, on the eve of such a crucial tournament. John Joe McDonagh was drafted into the squad in place of Sheahan for a competition that was to prove to be an enormous success for one of the youngest members of the squad, John Joe Nevin – who had the distinction of qualifying on a day that only exists once every four years, 29 February.
The Cavan bantamweight was quite simply magnificent in Pescara, beating the highly rated Detelin Dalakliev of Bulgaria en route to booking his place in Beijing, and also winning a gold medal following his classy win over Maksym Tretyak from Ukraine. But while Nevin was celebrating, there was disappointment for the rest of the Irish squad, who were now looking to Athens as their final chance of realising their Olympic dreams. The Greek capital was the scene of Andy Lee’s exit from the 2004 Olympics, after he was devastatingly beaten on a countback by Ndam Njikam from Cameroon at the last 16 stage. But fast-forward four years, and the memory of that disappointment were erased by the performances of Irish captain Ken Egan, Darren Sutherland and John Joe Joyce. All three booked their Olympic spots, and threw a hat trick of gold medals into the bargain, on an incredible day for Irish amateur boxing. Light welterweight Joyce, of the St Michael’s Athy club, won gold after his opponent, Egidijus Kavaliauskas of Lithuania, retired injured in the first round with the score tied at 2–2. Meanwhile, St Saviours Dublin middleweight Sutherland claimed gold after his opponent, Jean-Michael Raymond of France, retired in the second round when Sutherland was 8–2 up. And Swedish light heavyweight Kennedy Katende went the distance with Egan, but the Dubliner ensured the hat trick after earning a 15–10 win. The three gold medals wins also ensured that Ireland finished in second place in a league table of 39 nations based on points achieved in Pescara.
Every journey begins with a single step, a Chinese leader once said, and the journey to Beijing was now complete. With five boxers over the line, amateur boxing – Ireland’s most successful Olympic sport – was back with a bang. Qualifying five boxers is also an immense improvement on the 2004 Olympics, where Andy Lee was Ireland’s only representative, not to mention the 2000 games in Sydney, where Michael Roche was Ireland’s sole boxer. But let’s not forget the performances of the rest of the Irish squad, who were all over the world in various training camps and tournaments and shed blood, sweat and tears for their country in their quest to reach Beijing.
In particular, David Oliver Joyce, one of Europe’s most talented boxers, was denied the realisation of a lifetime’s ambition after being beaten in controversial circumstances in the Athens qualifiers. And we cannot ignore Irish Amateur Boxing Association (IABA) president Dominic O’Rourke, high performance director Gary Keegan, coaches Billy Walsh, Zuar Antia and Jim Moore, the numerous clubs up and down the country and everyone associated with Irish amateur boxing, all of whom deserve enormous credit for what has been a very successful Olympic qualifying campaign.
