With 17 days to go to the first bell at Paris 2024, we continue our celebration of the Irish Olympic boxing centenary, by celebrating the team of Rome, 1960.
It took 64 years for Team Ireland to qualify a Boxing Team equal in size to that which contested Rome – 10 boxers will vie for gold at Paris 2024
Irish boxing travelled to Italy with optimism after finishing in four podium positions at the 1956 Games.
Five medals had been secured from the last two Olympiads, two silver and three bronze. Confidence was high ahead of the competition at the Palazzo dello Sport venue. But there was no joy for Irish pugilism in the Eternal City as none of the ten-strong squad, Ireland’s biggest ever Olympic boxing panel, medalled.
Bernie Meli, at 20 the youngest member of the Irish squad, beat Greek light-welterweight Michail Dememtre in his opening bout but lost to Bohumil Nemecek of Czechoslovakia, who went on to win gold.
Omagh BC lightweight Danny O’Brien also opened his account with a win, beating Esteban Aguilar from the upcoming boxing nation of Cuba. However, he then went out to the eventual silver medallist, Sandro Lopopolo of Italy, in the next round.
The great Harry Perry, a multiple Irish champion, came unstuck. The Dubliner, appearing in back-to-back Olympics and a bronze medal winner at the 1959 European Championships in Switzerland, dropped a split decision to Korea’s Ki-soo Kim in his opening bout.
Cork’s Paddy Kenny, Ando Reddy, Mick Reid and Eamonn McKeon chalked up victories in Rome.
Colin McCoy was beaten in the light-heavyweight class by Finland’s Matti Aho, who was eliminated by Bulgaria’s Petar Stankov in the last-16. Meanwhile, Kenny, who sold copies of the Echo of the streets of Cork as a young man, beat Emile Anner of Switzerland and Crumlin BC light-middle Reid saw off Brazil’s Helio Crescencio in their opening contests.
Hosts Italy, with three gold, three silver and one bronze medal, topped the medals table at the 1960 Games.
The Rome Olympiad was the first Olympics to be televised. There was no change to the boxing program, with the same ten classes that had been contested at Helsinki in 1952 and Melbourne in 1956. The scoring system in 1960 was slightly new, as there were now five judges instead of three as at previous Olympics.
An 18-year-old American called Cassius Marcellus Clay, later to be known as Muhammad Ali, won four bouts en route to light-heavyweight gold at the 1960 Olympics in Rome. Thus began a career that transcended sport.
Team Ireland: Rome 1960
Flyweight: Adam McLean (Crown)
Lost to Karimu Young (Nigeria) 1-4
Bantamweight: Paddy Kenny (Cork News Boys & Coventry Irish)
Beat Emile Anner (Switzerland) 5-0
Lost to Jerry Armstrong (USA) 2-3
Featherweight: Ando Reddy (Sandymount)
Beat Andre Juncker (France) 3-2
Lost to Abel Bekker (Rhodesia) 0-5
Lightweight: Danny O’Brien (Omagh)
Beat Esteban Aguilar (Cuba) 5-0
Lost to to eventual silver medallist Sandro Lopopolo (Italy) 0-5
Light-welterweight: Bernie Meli (Immaculata)
Beat Michail Demetre (Greece) 5-0
Lost to eventual gold medallist Bohumil Nemecek (Czechoslovakia) 0-5
Welterweight: Harry Perry (British Rail)
Lost to Ki-soo Kim (Korea) 2-3
Light-middleweight: Mick Reid (Crumlin)
Beat Helio Crescencio (Brazil) 4-1
Lost to Henryk Dampe (Poland) 0-5
Middleweight: Eamonn McKeon (Crumlin)
Beat Mohammed Ben Gandoubi (Tunisia) 5-0
Lost to Frederik van Rooyen (South Africa) 0-5
Light-heavyweight: Colin McCoy (Kilcullen)
Lost to Matti Aho (Finland) 1-4
Heavyweight: Joe Casey (Arbour Hill)
Lost to Obrad Sretenovic (Yugoslavia) 0-5
Check out Rome’s Opening Ceremony:
The 1960 Summer Olympics featured 17 different sports encompassing 23 disciplines, and medals were awarded in 150 events.
Running barefoot, the Ethiopian runner Abebe Bikila did not go unnoticed when he entered the marathon. He refused to be daunted by condescending remarks, however, leaving all his opponents behind and crossing the finishing line victorious under Constantine’s triumphal arch. In doing so, he became the first Black African Olympic champion.
Paul Elvstrom of Denmark won his fourth consecutive yachting gold medal in the single-handed dinghy class. Hungarian fencer Aladar Gerevich earned his sixth consecutive gold medal in the team sabre event, and in canoeing Sweden’s Gert Fredriksson won his sixth gold medal.
The 1st Paralympic Games were held in Rome in conjunction with the 1960 Summer Olympics, marking the first time such events coincided.