Steven Donnelly in action in the WSB

The World Series of Boxing (WSB) 2016 season begins in Istanbul, Turkey on Saturday, with the Turkiye Conquerors taking on the China Dragons.

The Turks make a welcome return to the WSB this term, as they competed as Istanbul Bospherous in season 1 and 2, a squad which featured the talents of Ireland’s three-time EU champion David Oliver Joyce.

Four Irish boxers, Paddy Barnes, Steven Donnelly, Darren O’Neill and Dean Gardiner are signed with WSB panels for 2016.

Barnes and Donnelly and O’Neill could feature on opposing sides when the Hussars of Poland meet Venezuela in Warsaw the weekend after this.

While the various squads in the WSB will be focusing on reaching the knockout stages from their Groups, individually, boxers not qualified for Rio 2016 will have one eye on May’s WSB versus AIBA Pro Boxing (APB) qualifiers in Sofia, Bulgaria.

However, Olympic qualification through the WSB is of academic interest only to Barnes and Donnelly. Both boxers have already booked tickets for the 31st Olympiad, through the WSB.

WSB boxers need to have two fights – regardless of result – under their belts, either one last season or two this term, to make May’s WSB v APB qualifiers

Gardiner boxed once for Mexico last year, while O’Neill will be making his WSB debut this year.

Ireland’s boxers have competed in every season of the WSB since the inaugural season in 2010. However, they’ve never had the luxury of fighting at home as there has never been an Irish WSB side, as of yet……

Irish WSB Foreign Boxers Draft

91kg+ Dean Gardiner (Puerto Rico Hurricanes)
91kg Darren O’Neill (Venezuela Caciques)
75kg Steven Donnelly (Hussars Poland)
49kg Paddy Barnes (Hussars Poland)

Mick Dowling in action at the Olympics and sparring with Orlando Martinez in Havana in 2015

Ireland’s Mick Dowling and Cuba’s Orlando Martinez met in a “rematch” last year in Havana, Cuba.

The two-time Irish Olympian, an eight-time Irish Elite champion, and Martinez sparred in the Cuban capital 43 years after Martinez edged the Irish bantam on a split decision following a fiery encounter en route to gold at the 1972 Olympics in Munich.

According to a Sunday Times report, Dowling, after greeting his former opponent with a hug, asked the Olympic champion:  “Where’s my medal, you little, etc, etc…”

2015 World Elite semi-final: Michael O’Reilly (blue) v Bektemir Melikuziyev

Uzbekistan’s Bektemir Melikuziyev scooped the Best Asian Boxer of 2015 at the Asian Boxing Confederation Awards.

The Uzbek shaded Ireland’s Michael O’Reilly on a split decision in the semi-finals of the AIBA World Elite Men’s Championships in Doha, Qatar in October.

Melikuziyev, who won Asian Championships gold last year, was beaten in the World final by Cuban middleweight Arlen Lopez and had to settle for silver on the Persian Gulf.

Thai feather Tassamalee Thongjan collected the best Best Asian Female Boxer Award. Thongjan won double gold at the Asian Championships and South-East Asia Games and could move up a weight to 60kg for May’s World Women’s Elite Championships and Olympic qualifiers in Kazakhstan.

Qatar claimed the Best Asian National Federation following their hosting of the 2015 AIBA World Elite Championships in Doha.

Click here for Awards.

Michaela Walsh (red) in action

Please see below attachments for domestic fixtures and updated international fixtures for 2016.

Fixture List

Boxing2016 – Events Calendar as of January 15

Katie Taylor (red) at London 2012

A third gold medal for Irish boxing at the Rio Olympics next August would lift – if China or the Czech Republic don’t win gold – Irish boxing into a top 20 place in the All-Time Olympic medals table.

Ireland currently occupies 23rd position, with two gold, five silver and nine bronze won since first entering the Olympics as an independent nation in 1924.

Ireland’s placing improved considerably over the last two Olympiads with seven medals secured at Bejing 2008 and London 2012, almost matching the total won since the great John McNally secured a first boxing medal for Ireland at Helsinki 1952.

Michael Carruth and Katie Taylor are Ireland’s Olympic champions, while John McNally, Fred Tiedt, Wayne McCullough, Ken Egan and John Joe Nevin have won silver.

Michael Carruth and Wayne McCullough

Freddy Gilroy, Tony “Socks” Byrne, John Caldwell, Jim McCourt, Hugh Russell, Darren Sutherland, Paddy Barnes (2) and Michael Conlan have taken home bronze.

The USA tops the medals table with 50 gold medals in the bag. Cuba served notice that they were emerging as a leading boxing nation at the 1968 Games in Mexico after winning two silver medals.

Four years later they claimed three gold, one silver and one bronze to top the medals table at Munich 1972.

All Time Olympic Medals Table Boxing

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States (USA)	50	23	38	110
2	Cuba (CUB)	34	19	14	67
3	Great Britain (GBR)	17	12	24	53
4	Italy (ITA)	15	15	17	47
5	Soviet Union (URS)	14	19	18	51
6	Hungary (HUN)	10	2	8	20
7	Russia (RUS)	9	5	12	26
8	Poland (POL)	8	9	26	43
9	Argentina (ARG)	7	7	10	24
10	Kazakhstan (KAZ)	6	5	6	17
11	South Africa (RSA)	6	4	9	19
12	East Germany (GDR)	5	2	6	13
13	Germany (GER)	4	9	9	22
14	France (FRA)	4	7	8	19
15	Bulgaria (BUL)	4	5	9	18
16	Thailand (THA)	4	4	6	14
17	Ukraine (UKR)	4	3	7	14
18	Canada (CAN)	3	7	10	20
19	South Korea (KOR)	3	7	7	17
20	Yugoslavia (YUG)	3	2	6	11
21	China (CHN)	3	2	3	8
22	Czechoslovakia (TCH)	3	1	2	6
23	Ireland (IRL)	2	5	9	16
24	Mexico (MEX)	2	3	7	12
25	Finland (FIN)	2	3	3	8
26	North Korea (PRK)	2	1	11	14
27	Japan (JPN)	2	0	3	5
28	Romania (ROU)	1	9	15	25
29	Denmark (DEN)	1	5	6	12
30	Unified Team of Germany (EUA)	1	3	2	6
31	Mongolia (MGL)	1	2	2	5
	Norway (NOR)	1	2	2	5
	Venezuela (VEN)	1	2	2	5
34	Kenya (KEN)	1	1	5	7
35	Netherlands (NED)	1	1	4	6
36	Belgium (BEL)	1	1	2	4
37	New Zealand (NZL)	1	1	1	3
38	Uzbekistan (UZB)	1	0	6	7
39	Algeria (ALG)	1	0	5	6
	West Germany (FRG)	1	0	5	6
41	Dominican Republic (DOM)	1	0	1	2
42	Sweden (SWE)	0	5	6	11
43	Nigeria (NGR)	0	3	3	6
44	Uganda (UGA)	0	3	1	4
45	Philippines (PHI)	0	2	3	5
	Turkey (TUR)	0	2	3	5
47	Spain (ESP)	0	2	2	4
48	Belarus (BLR)	0	2	0	2
49	Puerto Rico (PUR)	0	1	5	6
50	Australia (AUS)	0	1	3	4
51	Brazil (BRA)	0	1	3	4
	Egypt (EGY)	0	1	3	4
53	Chile (CHI)	0	1	2	3
	Ghana (GHA)	0	1	2	3
55	Cameroon (CMR)	0	1	1	2
	Unified Team (EUN)	0	1	1	2
57	Australasia (ANZ)	0	1	0	1
	Czech Republic (CZE)	0	1	0	1
	Estonia (EST)	0	1	0	1
	Tonga (TGA)	0	1	0	1
61	Azerbaijan (AZE)	0	0	6	6
62	Colombia (COL)	0	0	3	3
	Morocco (MAR)	0	0	3	3
64	India (IND)	0	0	2	2
	Moldova (MDA)	0	0	2	2
	Tunisia (TUN)	0	0	2	2
67	Armenia (ARM)	0	0	1	1
	Bermuda (BER)	0	0	1	1
	Georgia (GEO)	0	0	1	1
	Guyana (GUY)	0	0	1	1
	Lithuania (LTU)	0	0	1	1
	Mauritius (MRI)	0	0	1	1
	Niger (NIG)	0	0	1	1
	Pakistan (PAK)	0	0	1	1
	Syria (SYR)	0	0	1	1
	Tajikistan (TJK)	0	0	1	1
	Uruguay (URU)	0	0	1	1
	Zambia (ZAM)	0	0	1	1
Total		239	239	415	893