Michael Conlan
Team Ireland and the Ulster High Performance and Elite teams and Russia will have their first series of three test matches at training camp at the University of Ulster in Jordanstown tomorrow.
The camp began yesterday and continues until February 12th.
London 2012 gold and bronze medallists Katie Taylor and Michael Conlan, both current World Elite champions, are included on the Irish squad, along with current European Elite and European Games champions Joe Ward and Michael O’Reilly.
Taylor (1), Conlan (1), O’Reilly (3) and Ward (3) are ranked in the top three in the world at light. bantam, middle and light-heavy.
Last season’s WSB No. 1 ranked light-fly and three-time Irish Olympian Paddy Barnes and European Games silver medallist Brendan Irvine are also in training camp in Jordanstown, along with three-time EU champion David Oliver Joyce and London 2012 Olympians Darren O’Neill and Adam Nolan and Steven Donnelly, who, along with Barnes, Conlan and Ward, has qualified for Rio 2016.
David Oliver Joyce (blue) and Gary Cully (red) are in training camp in Antrim
O’Neill is due to make his World Series of Boxing debut this month for Venezuela.
Two Dutch female boxers, flyweight Alicia Holsken and middleweight Nouchka Fontyn, who is ranked No. 2 in the world, are also taking part in the Antrim camp.
Team Ireland is building up toward April’s AOB Olympic qualifiers for men and women, which begin on April 7th in Samsun, Turkey and the World Women’s Elite Championships and Olympic qualifiers in Kazakhstan in May.
The Central Asia qualifiers complete the line up for female boxing at Rio 2016. Thirty six women – just 12% of the total of 286 boxers at each Olympics – will compete at the 31st Olympiad.
Thirty two of those places are available competitively, with one place going automatically to the host nation Brazil. Three wild cards will be distributed via the Tripartite Commission (invitation places).
Meanwhile, the WSB versus APB qualifiers will be decided in May and the journey to Rio runs out of road at the final World qualifier for male AOB boxers in Azerbaijan in June.
Meantime, while Russia have a senior team in Antrim, their Youth squad is in Dungarvan, Waterford training with their Irish counterparts.
Ireland’s Youths are building up toward May’s European Youth Championships in Latvia and the World Youth Championships in St Petersburg, Russia next November.
University of Ulster Training Camp
Irish squad
49kg Paddy Barnes
51kg Michaela Walsh
52kg Brendan Irvine
56kg Michael Conlan
60kg David Oliver Joyce
60kg Katie Taylor
60kg Shauna O’Keeffe
60kg Gary Cully
64kg Ray Moylette
69kg Steven Donnelly
69kg Adam Nolan
75kg Michael O’Reilly
75kg Christina Desmond
81kg Joe Ward
91kg Darren O’Neill
91kg Kiril Afenasov
91+kg Thomas Carty
Ulster High Performance Team
49kg Stevie McKenna
52kg TJ Waite
56kg Kurt Walker
60kg Sean McComb
60kg Tiernan Bradley
75kg Conor Wallace
81kg JP Delaney
Ulster Elite Team
49kg Dylan Moran
56kg Eamon McNally
60kg Anthony O’Rawe
64kg Bernaldo Marime
69kg Michael Bustard
75kg Fergus Quinn
81kg Sean McGlinchey
91kg Stephen McMonagle
91kg+ Damien O’Sullivan
Coaches and staff: Zuar Antia, John Conlan, Eddie Bolger, John Cleary and Ryan Walsh
