Boxing: Former IABA President Breandan O'Conaire believes that Joe Ward will be one of the ones to watch in the lead up to the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
Ward, from the Moate club in Co Westmeath, became the third Irish boxer in the last eight months — following in the footsteps of Katie Taylor and Ray Moylette — to claim a world title.
The Irish champ won gold at the AIBA World Junior Championships on Saturday after a three round tour de force versus Armenian light-middleweight Hayk Khachatryan in Yerevan, Armenia.
The scheduled three rounder was stopped six seconds from the final bell after Ward, who was 16-1 up, obliged Khachatryan, courtesy of a thudding right, to take a second standing count.
Saturday’s win was the Westmeath teenager’s third inside the distance — he halted opponents for Kazakhstan and Russia in his previous fights — triumph in four bouts at the Sports Complex in Yerevan.
And O’Conaire, who was in Yerevan as an AIBA Technical Officer in charge of selecting refs and judges for all contests, was impressed.
He said: “In the final, similar to all his previous bouts, he gave an impeccable performance. His movement, balance, selection of punches and tactics were excellent.
“Against the local champion in the final, with the huge crowd cheering for a second gold medal for Armenia, Joe was as cool and focused as if he was boxing at a local tournament in Moate.
“If he continues building on these skills and temperament he can be a definite possibility for London 2012.”