The remaining bouts of the 2024 National Boy/Girl 4 Championship have been re-fixed, following an incident on March 1st
Following a meeting of the Central Council’s Standing Committee, National Secretary Antoinette Faye McClean has confirmed that remaining bouts will be boxed at the National Stadium, Dublin:
Friday 29th March: Boy/Girl 4 – remaining quarter finals and all semi finals. Boxing will begin at 11am.
66kg Grainne Walsh is now one win away from securing a quota place at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
The Tullamore woman contested against Kenya’s Anyango Friza Asiko, and was dominant from the off, flooring her opponent for a standing count in the first round, and prompting another standing count in the second round. Her hand-speed, throughout, was too much for her opponent, and she claimed victory with a unanimous decision. Head Coach, Zauri Antia, says “Grainne is World Class. She is a great boxer, and showed her speed, power and adaptability today. She was excellent.”
Grainne will box for an Olympic berth on Monday, against Poland’s Aneta Rygielska, following her defeat of Kazakhstan’s Natalya Bogdanova.
Images: Tara Robins Mari
92+kg Martin McDonagh’s extraordinary Olympic Qualifier came to an end today. The Tuam man, having contested the Eindhoven Box Cup last year, had only stepped up to the highest level of competition in February, at Strandja. He turned 21 during the tournament.
Martin met Belarussian born Bahrain boxer, and Olympian, Danis Latypov, in his Round of 16 bout, which followed a Round of 64 victory over a 5-time US Champ, now declared for the Dominican Republic and a Round of 32 victory over Turkey’s
Head Coach, Zauri Antia, says “Martin is a big man, and a big talent. He has performed exceptionally well in this tournament and lost by the narrowest of margins today. He, his family and his club have much to be proud of. Martin showed his true potential here in Busto Arsizio”
602 boxers from 113 countries have registered to contest the tournament – making it the third largest boxing tournament in history. As a result, the beginning of boxing has been brought forward by a day, to March 3rd. Three sessions of boxing will take place March 4th to 8th to accommodate the volume of competition required.
49 quota places are available. In all weights Ireland is contesting at the tournament, a last four finish will qualify for Paris. The Paris Boxing Taskforce, which is running the competition on behalf of the International Olympic Committee, has advised that boxers will box to quota – which means boxers will cease competing at the Quarter Finals stage where last 4 qualify.
Day Eight – March 10th
3 boxers are in Round of 16 action on Sunday, and two wins away from a place at Paris.
50kg Daina Moorehouse, with two wins under her belt takes on Uzbekistan’s Sabina Bobokulova in the 3rd bout of Ring A’s Afternoon Session. She should be in the ring at around 12.45pm, Irish time.
80kg Kelyn Cassidy, whose Round of 32 bout with Guatamala’s Wyatt Trujillo lasted less than 90 seconds before a KO, meets Armenia’s Rafayel Hovhannisayn, also in Ring A’s Afternoon Session. Kelyn is in bout 9, which should get underway at around 1.45pm.
57kg Jude Gallagher boxes in the Evening Session (Ring B, Bout 4), at 7pm, Irish time. He contests for a last 8 place against Soulaimane Samghouli of Morocco.
A 15 strong team has been named to contest the 2024 European Youth Championships, taking place in Porec, Croatia, from April 2nd to 15th.
Ireland has a highly successful recent history at the tournament – the 2022 team won more medals at this competition that any other Team Ireland Youth squad contesting a European level tournament. They came home with 3 gold for eam Co-Captain, 71kg Bobbi Flood, 81kg Dearbhla Tinnelly and 81+kg Cliona D’arcy., a silver for 70kg Laura Moran and 3 bronze for 48kg boxers Georgia Dunn McGovern and Patsy Joyce, 50kg Katie O’Keeffe, and 63kg Winnie McDonagh
The draw takes place on April 3rd, and boxing begins on the 4th.
The team will also take part in a four-day training camp with the French team in Nancy, from March 24th to 28th.
The EUBC is expected to live-stream the tournament on its YouTube channel.
66kg Grainne Walsh, who got a bye from the Round of 64, was first up on Friday, and made her tournament debut. She contested against Germany’s Stefanie Von Berge Von Berge contested the European Games in Nowy Targ and most recently contested the European U22 Championships to quarter finals. Grainne progresses following a hard won 3-2 split decision win. Judges scored the bout 29:28; 28:29; 28:29; 29:28; 27: 30.
80kg Kelyn Cassidy was between the ropes in the morning session, for his second bout of the tournament. He met Guatamala’s Wyatt Trujillo and made lightning quick work of the bout – it was all over 1 minute and 26 seconds in to the first round, with a KO for Kelyn.
Just one Irish boxer in action in the Afternoon Session. 50kg Daina Moorehouse, fresh from Round of 64 victory over a World silver medalist, opened proceedings in Ring B against Venezuela’s Tayonis Cedeno. This was another close bout, with Daina winning on the narrowest of margins. The final score cards read: 29:28; 29:28; 27:30; 27:30, 27:30.
Jude Gallagher, contesting at 57kg, had a long wait for his bout. He was up in the last bout of the evening session, at around 9.30pm. He contested his Round of 32 bout against India’s Uddin Hussam Mohammed, a world bronze medalist. Jude won all three rounds, but a point was deducted from the Indian boxer in the second round, giving a final result of 4-0. The judges scorecards read: 30:26; 29:27; 30:26; 28:28; 30:26
602 boxers from 113 countries have registered to contest the tournament – making it the third largest boxing tournament in history. As a result, the beginning of boxing has been brought forward by a day, to March 3rd. Three sessions of boxing will take place March 4th to 8th to accommodate the volume of competition required.
49 quota places are available. In all weights Ireland is contesting at the tournament, a last four finish will qualify for Paris. The Paris Boxing Taskforce, which is running the competition on behalf of the International Olympic Committee, has advised that boxers will box to quota – which means boxers will cease competing at the Quarter Finals stage where last 4 qualify.
Day Seven – March 9th
Two boxers are in Round of 16 action on Saturday.
92+kg Martin McDonagh meets Belarussian born Bahrain boxer, and Olympian, Danis Latypov. Ring A, Afternoon Session – bout 12. He will be in the ring at approximately 2.30pm.
Grainne Walsh has a quick turnaround form her opening bout – she is back in action just over 24 hours later, against Kenyan Anyango Friza Asiko. That’s Bout 3 of Ring B’s evening session. Grainne will be between the ropes at around 6.45pm, Irish time.
Anna Moore, of St. Francis Boxing Club, Limerick, joined the Irish Boxing Family in the late 1960s, and was a vital force in the development of women’s boxing in Ireland. Women’s boxing here is 23 years old this year – the first women’s competitive bout took place on Hallowe’en night, 2001, between Katie Taylor and Alanna Nihell. It was officiated by Illes Golden Glove BC’s Sadie Duffy.
Anna has held leadership roles in boxing at European and World level, through membership of dedicated Women’s Committees. She is an elected member of Munster Provincial Council and the IABA’s Central Council, which operates the sport of amateur boxing on the island of Ireland.
Anna, as Team Manager, has also led Irish teams to great success at European and World level, at Youth and Junior age groups. She is vital to the management of National Championships at the home of Irish Boxing, through her administration of these competitions. She is also an IABA qualified coach, and a national and internationally qualified judge.
Anna says “What motivates me is the kids; I love ‘em, they’re like my own. They call me the Mammy of Boxing – I’d say at this stage I could be the Nana of boxing. But it’s the kids that motivate me. When I see them boxing here, and then you see them in the Worlds and you see them in the Europeans – to me, that’s my legacy, for them to say, I was always there. And they do. I’m seeing the boxers I went away with when they 13, 14, 15 – and they’re mothers now!
The film features contributions by Tokyo and Paris Olympian, Michaela Walsh, National Registrar Philip Rooney, Leinster President Jim Murrin, Ulster Provincial Council’s Eugene Duffy, High Performance Director Tricia Heberle and High Performance Head Coach, Zauri Antia.
Michaela says “Everyone called her the Mummy of Irish boxing. She’s an Irish Boxing legend. Just when you’re away, she’s amazing to be with. An amazing personality. Sometimes when you’re away, boxing can be very serious. To have someone like Anna, who has the craic and a laugh, she just takes that seriousness away”
Seconds Out
This piece is part of the Seconds Out series, delving in to the lifeblood of Irish Boxing as we approach 100 years of Olympic participation and success. The first episode, High Performance on the Road to Paris, offered a window in to High Performance, with contributions by Head Coach, Zauri Antia, Coach Damian Kennedy, HP Director Tricia Heberle and Olympian, Michaela Walsh.
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Women in Sport Week Events.
IABA’s Women in Sport Lead, Sophie Doolan, has developed a series of events in line with Sport Ireland’s WIS week pillars, including:
March 4th: High Performance – profiling some of the key women in High Performance Boxing
March 5th: Visibility – IABA will launch Phase Two of the Ringcraft programme on Tuesday.
March 6th – IABA will replatfom to clubs the keynote advice development by the Women in Leadership Group in 2022 to assist clubs in supporting women and girls in our sport.
March 7th – Coaching & Officiating. IABA has asked clubs to contribute to the highlighting of women coaches and officials in their club.
March 8th – International Women’s Day
*IABA’s National Secretary will share a keynote message with women of Irish Boxing
*IABA’s brand new Youth Leadership programme will open to expressions of interest from young women
*IABA Ulster will host a Try It! day for primary and secondary school students in Belfast.
