BOXING:TWO OF Ireland's most highly-rated amateur boxers, 17-year-old European champion Joe Ward and Olympic silver medallist and 10-time Irish Senior Champion Ken Egan, could meet again this week in the National Stadium for a place in Ireland's World Championship team.
The Irish Amateur Boxing Association (IABA) has decided that there must be a box off to decide the composition of the Irish team for the championships in Baku, Azerbaijan next month and has organised an Elite Open event to assist with their selection. Both boxers’ names are on the current entry list. The World Championships also double as an Olympic Games qualifier for London 2012.
For those who don’t qualify for the Olympics through the World Championships, there will be one more chance to make London with a final event that will be organised next year for the remaining places.
As well as Egan and Ward in the 81kg class, Paddy Barnes, Ireland’s light flyweight Olympic bronze medallist and 2010 European Champion is also on the entry list.
Several of the top fighters have entered reluctantly, including Ward, who became the first Irish boxer in a decade to beat Egan when he won the Irish Senior light heavyweight final earlier this year.
There is also the vexed issue of several boxers being injured or who are in the process of recovery from injury including European silver medallist Darren O’Neill, who has an injured hand, but is listed as an entry in the 75kg class.
It is a highly controversial decision by the IABA and comes following a statement from honorary secretary Seán Crowley that after a meeting on August 5th there was a recommendation that when the team for Azerbaijan comes up for ratification at the Boxing Council meeting on August 20th that they will be “recommending that the winners from this week’s Open Unseeded Elite Competition will be the team for the 2011 AIBA World Championships.”
In other words, everyone must enter. The tournament will be like staging the Irish Senior Championships, at short notice, over four days with a World Championship place at stake. It also means that Ward’s charge to the top of the 81kg division in Europe counts for nothing, although Egan could argue that one bad day in 11 years shouldn’t exclude him from a crack at qualifying for London.
Light welterweight European gold medallist Ray Moylette must also prove himself again and has also entered in the 64kg class.
Oddly, the competition could lead to Ireland losing their two seeded positions for the World Championships. Ward and Ray Moylette, by virtue of being the current European Champions, are seeded for the Baku tournament, although they are not so in this week’s Irish box off. If either of them lose and do not go to Baku, their replacements will not be seeded in the championships.
Open Unseeded Elite Competition
Venue: National Stadium, Dublin.
Dates: Today; Tomorrow; Friday, August 12th; Saturday, August 13th.
Weigh-in:Today 8.30am to 10am; Subsequent days 8.30am to 9.30am.
Draw:After conclusion of weigh-in on Wednesday.
Times – Wednesday:7pm; Thursday: 11am 2pm; Friday: 2pm 7pm; Saturday: Finals to be announced.
