BOXING:TEN-TIME Elite Irish champion Ken Egan believes his win at Saturday's Unseeded Open Elite Competition will be enough to secure a ticket for the upcoming AIBA World Championships and Olympic qualifiers in Baku, Azerbaijan.
The 2008 Olympic silver medalist and three-time EU champion beat Antrim’s Stephen Ward, a silver medal winner for Northern Ireland at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, 13-5 in the heavyweight final at Dublin’s National Stadium.
It was a comfortable win for the Neilstown southpaw, who announced last week he was moving up from light-heavyweight to heavyweight.
“I have a sore left hand but it’s nothing to worry about. I’m nearly sure I’ll be on the team . . . If they sent just me to Azerbaijan I’ll be happy. I think I am after earning my place on the plane by now,” said Egan.
“I’ll have to focus on putting on a bit of weight. I’d like to sit around 88Kg or 89Kg and then I’d be able to come down to 85Kg for the World Series calendar.”
Roy Sheehan’s resurgence in form continued at the weekend following his 14-10 victory over Portlaoise BC’s Michael O’Reilly in the welterweight final. The lead changed hands twice in this 69Kg duel, as teenager O’Reilly, one of the brightest prospect in Irish boxing, won the first round by one point before Sheehan edged ahead going down the final stretch.
Sheehan, along with the late Darren Sutherland and Egan, helped Ireland secure a hat-trick of gold medals at the 2007 European Union Championships.
But hand injuries has seen the St Michael’s Athy BC stylist slip from favour. However, Saturday’s win over O’Reilly – 24 hours after he beat current Elite champ Adam Nolan – completed his comeback.
“I’m glad I came out on top. I trained very hard for this. I was out for the last three years with a broken hand and this is my first time fully fit and hopefully it will get better from here on,” said Sheehan. “If they pick me for the World Championships I will be in good shape.”
Current and former Elite champs Ross Hickey and Tyrone McCullagh, both European bronze medalists, also won on Saturday, and 2009 Euro youth champ Jason Quigley beat Stephen O’Reilly in an all-Donegal derby.
Multiple Irish and EU champ David Oliver Joyce came out on top against Mark O’Hara, and also has his eyes on Baku.
“Hopefully, that’s my ticket booked now for the Olympic qualifier. After the seniors I had to look forward and not backward. I was looking forward to this one. The last box-off I had I wasn’t really training. This one I trained hard for,” he said.
Classy Belfast flyweight Michael Conlon also won on Saturday, along with Davey Joe Joyce, a World Youth bronze medalist, and Elite champ Con Sheehan, who has moved up from heavyweight to super-heavyweight.
World and European champ Katie Taylor and Sinead Kavanagh were in action on Saturday’s programme, Taylor hammering Holland’s Vandellen Willeke 22-4, but Kavanagh losing 17-10 to Willeke’s compatriot Fontyn Nouchka. Saturday’s win was Taylor’s second in 48-hours as she scored a unanimous decision over Sweden’s Helena Falk in Bray last Thursday.
Unseeded Open Elite Competition National Stadium, Dublin. — Finals 52Kg: M Conlon (St John Bosco) beat R Dalton (Holy Trinity) 15-8 56Kg: T McCullagh (Holy Family GG) beat D Coughlan (St Anne’s) 8-4 60Kg: David O Joyce (St Michael’s Athy) beat M O’Hara (Holy Trinity) 15-5 60Kg: K Taylor (Ireland) beat V Willeke (Holland) 22-4 64Kg: R Hickey (Grangecon) beat S Upton (Holy Family) 19-12 69Kg: R Sheehan (St Michael’s Athy) beat M O’Reilly (Portlaoise) 14-10 75Kg: F Nouchka (Holland) beat S Kavanagh (Ireland) 17-10. 75Kg: J Quigley (Finn Valley) beat S O’Reilly (Twintowns) 23-16 81Kg: D Joyce (Ballinacargy) beat P O’Shea (Sunnyside) 17-3 91Kg: K Egan (Neilstown) beat S Ward (Monkstown, Antrim) 13-5 97Kg+: C Sheehan (Clonmel) beat S Turner (Drimnagh) 17-7/
Coyle claims light middleweight title
MAYOS HENRY Coyle claimed the vacant WBF Light Middleweight title at the Royal Theatre in Castlebar when he beat Italy’s Elio Cotena on a technical knockout.
Cotena sustained a extremely deep cut just above his eye after clashing with Coyle’s head and the Italian’s doctor was forced to intervene after the end of the fifth round, much to the delight of the home support.
