BOXING:THREE BOXERS, who have already qualified for the Olympic Games, as well as several more hopefuls including Kenny Egan and 18-year-old Joe Ward arrive at the National Stadium this weekend for the semi-final stages of the National Senior Championships.
Run over two days, Ward faces Davy Joe Joyce tonight in the light heavyweight bout with Egan scheduled to fight Eamon Walshe on Saturday in the other semi-final. It’s anticipated that the two will meet in next week’s final with Egan plotting to regain the title he lost to Ward last year.
West Belfast’s Michael Conlan, John Joe Nevin and Darren O’Neill qualified for the Games by virtue of reaching the quarter-finals at last year’s World Championships and Olympic qualifiers in Baku, Azerbaijan.
All three London bound boxers are in action tonight with Conlan facing Corinthians’ Shane Roche and Nevin in the ring straight after against bantamweight Sean McComb.
Darren O’Neill faces Conrad Cummings in the middleweight bout later this evening. Last year the two provided a tight semi-final with O’Neill emerging a narrow 4-3 winner before going on to take the title, his third in a row.
At light flyweight Hugh Myres and Crumlin’s Evan Melcalfe meet to see who faces Paddy Barnes in next week’s 49kg final. Barnes, who won a bronze medal at the last Olympic Games in Beijing, suffered from injury last year and now needs a decent run in the lead up to the Olympic qualifiers, which take place in Turkey in April.
NATIONAL SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS – Friday – Semi-finals (7pm): 49Kg: H Myres (Ryston) v E Metcalfe (Crumlin); 52Kg: M Conlan (St John Bosco) v S Roche (Corinthians); 56Kg: JJ Nevin (Cavan) v S McComb (Holy Trinity); 60Kg: M McDonagh (St Marys) v T McCullagh (Holy Family GG); 64Kg: R Hickey (Grangecon) v N Murray (Gorey); 69Kg: A Nolan (Bray) v W McLaughlin (Illies GG); 75Kg: D O’Neill (Paulstown) v C Cummings (Holy Trinity); 81Kg: J Ward (Moate) v DJ Joyce (Ballinacargy); 91Kg: T McCarthy (Oliver Plunkett) v S Ward (Monkstown); 91+Kg: C Sheehan (Clonmel) v K Okungbowa (Moate).
