Boxing: Irish boxing trio John Joe Nevin, Darren O'Neill and Eric Donovan all cruised into the last 32 of the AIBA World Boxing Championships at the at the Mediolanum Forum in Milan today.
Nevin, who reached the last 16 at the Beijing Olympics, outlcassed Azerbaijan’s Ramir Najafou in their bantamweight bout to earn a 19-4 victory.
O'Neill advanced with ease after the referee stopped his bout with Nepalse middleweight Rajan Shilpakar just 34 seconds into the second round. The Paulstown boxer was 21-0 up when the contest was stopped.
Donovan completed the Irish trio of victories with a controlled 13-4 win over Dakhodir Karimov of Tajikustan this evening.
The St Michael's lightweight took the first round 5-1 before stretching his lead to 9-3 by the end of the second. He'll now meet India's Jai Bhagwan - an opponent he beat 5-2 in the Ahmet Cup in Turkey in April - in the last 32 on Friday.
Tomorrow morning Willie McLaughlin will square up to Burundi’s Come Ndyishmiye (69kg), while David Oliver Joyce faces Thailand’s Wuttichai Masuk (57kg).