Boxing News

A Review of Irish Olympic Boxing in 2010

By Bernard O’Neill

The Irish Amateur Boxing Association completed another stunning year in 2010 with Katie Taylor, Paddy Barnes, Joe Ward, Ryan Burnett, Darren O’Neill, Eric Donovan, Tyrone McCullagh and Ken Egan grabbing the headlines in international competition.

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• Taylor claimed her third AIBA World lightweight title in a row – just a few weeks after she won her third European Union title on the trot in Hungary -  in Barbados in September and also scooped the AIBA World female boxer of the year award, the second time she has collected this accolade in two years.

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• The Bray woman, Ireland’s most successful athlete of the 21st century – or any century for that matter – was also in the running to be named RTE/Irish Sports Council Sportsperson of the year. Amazingly, the 24-year- old did not receive the award.

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• Barnes, from the Holy Family club in Belfast, bridged a 19-year gap and won Ireland’s first gold medal at European Championships level since Dubliner Paul Griffin in 1991 when he finished on top of the light-flyweight podium at the Ice Palace in Moscow.

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• Kilkenny middleweight Darren O’Neill claimed a silver medal at the same event and McCullagh, Donovan and Egan landed bronze. The medal haul saw Ireland finish in second spot behind powerhouses Russia in the medals table.

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• The medal haul also saw the Senior squad named RTE/Irish Sports Council Team of the year ahead of All Ireland hurling and football champs Tipperary and Cork and Premier Division league winners Shamrock Rovers.

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• Meanwhile, Burnett, also of the Holy Family BC in Belfast, won an historic gold medal at the inaugural Youth Olympics in Singapore this summer, just a few months after he claimed silver at the AIBA World Youth Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan.

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• Joe Ward went all the way at the 2010 World Youths, claiming gold in the middleweight class. Amazingly, Ward, who only turned 17 recently, also won a gold medal at the 2009 AIBA World Junior Championships in Armenia in 2009 at light-middleweight.

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• Ross Hickey, a bronze medal winner at the 2008 European Championships, claimed gold at the Tammer Multi Nations in Finland in October.  Ryan Lindberg, David Oliver Joyce, Roy Sheehan and Declan Geraghty won bronze at the same tournament.

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• Meantime, John Joe Nevin (gold), Willie McLaughlin (gold), Darren O’Neill (gold) Jason Quigley (gold), Sean Turner (gold), Eric Donovan (silver), Ray Moylette (silver) and Con Sheehan (silver) took home eight medals from the Ostrava Grand Prix in the Czech Republic, also in October.

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• Niall Murray and Adam Nolan also got amongst the medals in international competition this year, claiming gold and silver in Austria in September, with George Bates winning bronze in a third place box-off.

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• September proved to be another fruitful month with Chris Phelan (gold), Chris Blaney (gold),  Michael McDonagh (silver) and Stephen Broadhurst (silver) getting amongst the silverware at the  Nova Sad Multi-Nations  in Serbia.

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• Anthony Coyle, meanwhile, lost out by a 1-0 margin for gold in the President Aliyev Cup in Baku in May and Chris Nevin won bronze at the same Multi – Nations, while Katie Taylor bagged another gold at the Prime Ministry tournament in Turkey in April – Ray Moylette (bronze) and Gary Molloy also medaled here.

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• The Northern Ireland team also wrote themselves into the record books when Paddy Barnes, Eamon O’Kane, Paddy Gallagher, Tommy McCarthy and Steven Ward claimed an unprecendented three gold and two silver medals Commonwealth Games at the Talkatora Stadium in Delhi, where Taylor won her first World title in 2006.

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• John Joyce, Wayne Kelly and Michael Gallagher took home three bronze medals from the European Schoolboy Championships in Bulgaria in July, preceded by a haul of four medals at the Lithuanian Multi-Nations in May. Philip Sutcliffe (gold), Eamon O’Kane (silver), Willie McLaughlin (bronze) and Ryan Lindberg (bronze) did the business  here.

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• Elsewhere in April 2010,  David Oliver Joyce (gold) and three silver medal wins for Declan Geraghty, Ryan Lindberg and Eamon O’Kane ensured that Ireland did not come home empty handed from the Gee Bee Multi-Nations in Finland.

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• The opening bell for the ground breaking World Series of Boxing (WSB) also tolled this year, and so far Ireland’s Ken Egan and John Joe Nevin have recorded three wins out of three boxing for Miami Gallos and Paris United in the Americas and European WSB groups.

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• Katie Rowland and Christina Gargan also got amongst the medals at the European Youth & Junior Championships in France, Rowland, who was desperately unlucky to lose out on a one point margin on a count-back to  Victoria Kuleshava of Russia, won silver, and Gargan took home bronze.

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• Domestically, Ken Egan grabbed the headlines after winning a record breaking 10th Irish senior title in a row at the National Stadium and a host of new champions were crowned from underage level right up to senior.

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• Meantime, the IABA will celebrate its 100th birthday next year amid the countdown for the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

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• The first qualifier for the 30th Olympiad will be at the 2011 AIBA World Senior Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan. There will be one further qualifier per continent for the 30th Olympiad, although WSB boxers do have an extra opportunity to try and book their tickets for London.

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• Katie Taylor will have to secure qualification for the 2012 Olympics at the AIBA World Women’s Championships in China where she will be aiming for her fourth title in a row.

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• It promises to be an exciting year, and with just two days to go before the opening bell tolls for the start of the second decade of the 21st century the IABA would like to wish everyone involved with Ireland’s most successful international sport a very happy and prosperous New Year.

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