Aoife O’Rourke will box for a World Boxing Championship medal on Wednesday – having won her World Boxing Championship Last 16 bout in dominant, decisive style this evening.

The double Olympian and four-time continental champion, contesting at 75kg, forced two 2^nd round standing count of her opponent, Monika Langerova of the Czech Republic. She won by 5-0, and the judges scored the bout: 30:27, 30:25, 30:25, 30: 25, 30: 26, 30: 25. Aoife will box her quarter final against Norway’s Sunniva Hofstad – a fellow Paris Olympian and the only boxer, male or female, this year to win gold at all  World Boxing Cups. That bout takes place in Wednesday’s evening session.

Team Ireland’s Daina Moorehouse bowed-out of the World Boxing Championships on the narrowest of margins. She contested her Last 32 bout against fellow Paris Olympian, Laura Fuentes Fernandez of Spain. This was a tight, high-tempo bout and the 3-2 decision went to Spain. Judges scored the bout 28:29, 29:28, 29:28, 28:29, 29:28

Matthew McCole exits the World Boxing Championships on the narrowest of margins. This is the Donegal man’s first benchmark tournament, and he held his opponent Ronald Chavez Jr of the Philippines to a 3-2 split. Judges scored the bout 29: 28, 28:29, 28:29, 29: 28, 28:29

Not to be for Team Ireland’s Zara Breslin. The Waterford lightweight boxer took on Paris Olympian, Turkey’s Gizem Ozer, in her Last 32 contest. . Ozer is a European Games, Mediterranean Games and European U22 medalist. An excellent effort against an experienced campaigner: the 5-0 decision went to Ozer. Judges scored the bout

540 boxers from 66 federations are contesting these champions, the first in which men and women compete for World gold together. The competition is the biggest ever Olympic-style boxing event held in the UK, and includes 17 medalists from Paris 2024 and more than 30 boxers that competed at the most recent Olympic Games. It features action at 10 weight classes for men and women with 80 medals being handed out, including 20 golds

Detailed Day Four results are available here

Day Four

Four boxers are between the ropes at the M&S Arena, Liverpool, on Sunday – the afternoon session begins at 11am and the evening session gets underway at 6pm.

Double Olympian and multiple Commonweath Games medalist, 57kg Micheala Walsh, returns for her second bout of the tournament, following her sensational Last 32 first round stoppage win over Saudi Arabia. She contests her Last 16 bout against Shih-Yi Wu of Chinese Taipei. Wu was the 57kg bronze medalist at the Paris Olympic Games, and has medaled at the Asian Games and Asian Championships. The pair will meet in the second bout of Ring B’s Evening Session.

Patsy Joyce, one of the youngest members of the team, makes his debut at Last 16 stage, having received a bye. The Westmeath-based 2025 Irish Elite and U23 champion takes on Korea’s Jaeyong Shin in Bout 7 of Ring B’s Afternoon Session in the 55kg category

Paris Olympian Dean Clancy also makes his championship debut on Sunday, having received a bye to the Last 16. He meets Turkmenistan’s Ihlasbek Kochkarov in Bout 10 of Ring B’s Evening Session

And Aoife’s sister Lisa O’Rourke, a previous World champion and silver medalist, opens her account tomorrow.  She takes on Colombia’s Shirleidis Orozco in Bout 6 of Ring A’s Evening Session Orozco is a previous PanAmerican welterweight champion.

Watch

World Boxing has partnered with Eurovision Sport to broadcast the Championship. Coverage, available HERE, begins at 11am on Thursday morning.

The championship website, where tickets are available for purchase, is HERE

Team Ireland

51kg Daina Moorehouse, of Enniskerry BC, Wicklow. Daina is from Bray, Co. Wicklow.

54kg Jenny Lehane of DCU Boxing Club, Dublin. Jenny is from Ashbourne, Co. Meath

57kg Michaela Walsh of Holy Family Golden Gloves BC Belfast.

60kg Zara Breslin of Tramore BC, Waterford.

65kg Grainne Walsh of St. Mary’s BC, Tallaght, Dublin. Grainne is from Tullamore, Co. Offaly

70kg Lisa O’Rourke of Castlerea BC, Co. Roscommon

75kg Aoife O’Rourke of Castlerea BC, Co. Roscommon. Team Co-Captain

50kg Louis Rooney of Star BC, Belfast

55kg Patsy Joyce of Olympic BC, Mullingar Co. Westmeath

60kg Adam Hession of Monivea BC, Co. Galway. Team Co-Captain

65kg Dean Clancy of Sean McDermott BC, Co. Leitrim. Dean is from Co. Sligo

70kg Matthew McCole of Illies Golden Glove BC Co. Donegal

75kg Gavin Rafferty of Dublin Docklands Boxing Club

80kg Kelyn Cassidy of Saviours Crystal BC, Co. Waterford

85kg Brian Kennedy of St. Brigid’s BC Edenderry Co. Offaly

90kg Jack Marley of Monkstown BC, Dublin

90+kg Martin McDonagh of Galway BC

Support Staff

• Team Manager: Jon Mackey, National Performance Director
• Head Coach: Zauri Antia
• Coaches: Damain Kennedy, Lynne McEnery, Eoin Pluck, James Doyle and JP Delaney
• Doctor: Jim Clover
• Lead Physio: Rob Tuomey
• Performance Analyst: Alan Swanton
• Logistics Support: Sean Crowley, High Performance Manager

Team Ireland secured two wins on the second day of the World Boxing Championships, one by way of RSC.

540 boxers from 66 federations are contesting these champions, the first in which men and women compete for World gold together. The competition, staged at Liverpool’s M&S Arena, is the biggest ever Olympic-style boxing event held in the UK, 

65kg Paris Olympian Grainne Walsh has won her opening bout against Slovakia’s Jessica Triebelova 5-0 in fine style, stymying her opponent by constant changes in angles, and attack combinations. Judges scored the bout: 30:27, 30:27, 30:27, 29:28, 30:27. Grainne is next in action in Monday’s Evening Session. She’ll Mariana Soto Torres of Spain, who recorded a 5-0 win over Ukraine’s Nataliia Merinova on Friday.

Speaking to World Boxing after her bout, Grainne said “The first fight of any major tournament can be daunting – not that it’s any different, it’s a ring anywhere in the world but -just getting the feel of things and getting the ball rolling. I’m impressed and proud of my performance there. And, like our coaches always say, look after the performance, the results will come. That’s what I’ve tried to practice in the camp, being present and just enjoying it – because there’s not that many people that get to say they’re living their dream. I’m very privileged to be here.”

And on her tactical preparation before the bout, Grainne says “We looked at footage of her before the bout, by my approach is to bring the best version of me. They’re also coming up with a plan to try and beat me so, if I’m the best version of Grainne Walsh, I believe I’m up there with the very best of them”

A sensational result for Team Ireland’s Michaela Walsh, winning her opening bout against Saudi Arabia’s Hadeel Ashbour by way of 1^st round RSC. Michaela boxes her Last 16 bout in Sunday’s Evening Session. She’ll meet the winner of the match between Taipei’s Shih-Yi Wu and Croatia’s Nikolina Cacic in a couple of hours

Not to be on this occasion for 75kg Gavin Rafferty. He came up against Azerbaijan’s Saidjamshid Jafarov, a two time Asian continental champion and a 2023 World silver medalist. Gavin boxed with great heart against the vastly more experienced boxer. The judges scored the bout 30: 27, 30: 27, 30: 27, 30: 27, 30: 26

50kg Louis Rooney exits the championships on a dreaded split, following a high calibre, high octane Last 32 bout against Huthaifa Eshish of Jordan. Judges scored the bout 27:30; 28:29; 29:28; 30:27; 30:27, while superheavy, Martin McDonagh, bows out of the World Championships following a split decision loss to India’s Narender Narender. They were level on all cards going in to the last in a very tight bout. The final scores were: 29:28; 28:29; 29:28; 29:27; 29:28

Afternoon Session results are here and Evening Session results are here

Day Three

Four boxers are in action on Saturday. Afternoon Sessions begin at 11am, and Evening Sessions at 6pm.

There’s a meeting of Paris Olympians in Ring A’s Afternoon Session. 51kg Daina Moorehouse meets Spain’s Laura Fuertes Fernandez in Bout 6. Fuertes Fernandez is a World, European Games and Mediterranean Games bronze medalist. Next up, also in the Afternoon Session, is Donegal’s Matthew McCole. Contesting at 70kg, the Illies Golden Glove boxer makes his competition debut against 25 yr old Ronald Chavez Jr of the Philippines. That’s Bout 11 of Ring B’s Afternoon Session.

Waterford’s Zara Breslin, contesting at 60kg, opens her account in Ring B’s Evening Session tomorrow, against Turkish veteran, Gizem Ozer. She’s a European Games and Mediterranean Games bronze medalist, and came home with silver the 2022 European U22 Championships.

The last Team Ireland boxer in action on Saturday is Team Co-Captain, double Olympian and four-time continental champion, Aoife O’Rourke. She’s up in Bout 7 of Ring B’s Evening Session, against Czech Republic’s Monika Langerova

The programme is available here

Watch

World Boxing has partnered with Eurovision Sport to broadcast the Championship. Coverage available HERE,

The championship website, where tickets are available for purchase, is HERE

Team Ireland

51kg Daina Moorehouse, of Enniskerry BC, Wicklow. Daina is from Bray, Co. Wicklow.

54kg Jenny Lehane of DCU Boxing Club, Dublin. Jenny is from Ashbourne, Co. Meath

57kg Michaela Walsh of Holy Family Golden Gloves BC Belfast.

60kg Zara Breslin of Tramore BC, Waterford.

65kg Grainne Walsh of St. Mary’s BC, Tallaght, Dublin. Grainne is from Tullamore, Co. Offaly

70kg Lisa O’Rourke of Castlerea BC, Co. Roscommon

75kg Aoife O’Rourke of Castlerea BC, Co. Roscommon. Team Co-Captain

50kg Louis Rooney of Star BC, Belfast

55kg Patsy Joyce of Olympic BC, Mullingar Co. Westmeath

60kg Adam Hession of Monivea BC, Co. Galway. Team Co-Captain

65kg Dean Clancy of Sean McDermott BC, Co. Leitrim. Dean is from Co. Sligo

70kg Matthew McCole of Illies Golden Glove BC Co. Donegal

75kg Gavin Rafferty of Dublin Docklands Boxing Club

80kg Kelyn Cassidy of Saviours Crystal BC, Co. Waterford

85kg Brian Kennedy of St. Brigid’s BC Edenderry Co. Offaly

90kg Jack Marley of Monkstown BC, Dublin

90+kg Martin McDonagh of Galway BC

Support Staff

• Team Manager: Jon Mackey, National Performance Director
• Head Coach: Zauri Antia
• Coaches: Damain Kennedy, Lynne McEnery, Eoin Pluck, James Doyle and JP Delaney
• Doctor: Jim Clover
• Lead Physio: Rob Tuomey
• Performance Analyst: Alan Swanton
• Logistics Support: Sean Crowley, High Performance Manager

Entries to the 2025 National U17 Championships, via clubs’ Blocworx portals, close today.

This tournament is for boxers born in 2009 and 2010. Entries will close at 5pm on September 5th, and the draw will take place on Tuesday, September 9th at 12pm. Any required weight changes must be notified to the National Registrar, Stephen Connolly, by 12pm on Monday, September 8th.

Venue

Boxing on September 12th, 13th and 14th will take place in Holy Family BC, Drogheda 

Weigh-ins: Friday 8-9am & 12-1pm and Saturday & Sunday 8-9am

Boxing on Friday will begin a 6pm, and there’s an 11am start for boxing on Saturday and Sunday

The Semi Finals & Finals will be boxed at the National Stadium, Dublin, on September 19th and 20th, respectively.

Weigh-ins: Friday 8-9am & 12-1pm / Saturday 8-9am

Boxing on Friday begins at 6pm, and gets underway on Saturday at 11am.

Advisories

• No late entries will be accepted. 
• Any changes to weights prior to the draw must be notified to Stephen Connolly: 0861546746 or email: registrar@iaba.ie by midday on Monday, September 8th.
• The draw will take place on Tuesday, September 9th at midday.
• All coaches must be Qualified and registered via Secretary@iaba.ie

Competition Circular

IABA is seeking an Independent Non-Executive Director, to will play a critical role in supporting the effective governance and strategic development of the Association.

As an independent voice, the Independent Director will bring objectivity, specialist expertise, and professional insight to the Board’s decision-making, ensuring compliance with legal duties and alignment with the IABA’s mission, values, and strategic goals. 

The role is voluntary and carried out in accordance with the Companies Act 2014, the IABA Constitution, and the Governance rules of Sport Ireland, and Sport Northern Ireland. 

The IABA is Ireland’s most successful Olympic sport, and is the National Governing Body of Sport for Boxing in the 32 counties of Ireland.  The complete Role Description is below.

Interested candidates should submit a CV and short cover letter to CEO Gary Stewart via info@iaba.ie outlining their relevant experience and motivation for joining the IABA Board, before midnight on September 12th.

Appointments are made by the Board Nominations Committee, with a focus on ensuring:

• Skills balance
• Independence
• Diversity and inclusion
• Organisational needs

Role Description

Team Ireland recording an opening day win at the World Boxing Championships at the M&S Arena in Liverpool.

540 boxers from 66 federations are contesting these champions, the first in which men and women compete for World gold together. The competition is the biggest ever Olympic-style boxing event held in the UK, and includes 17 medallists from Paris 2024 and more than 30 boxers that competed at the most recent Olympic Games. It features action at 10 weight classes for men and women with 80 medals being handed out, including 20 golds.

54kg Jennifer Lehane has opened Team Ireland’s account with a 5-0 win over Wicktoria Rogalinska – 30-27; 30:27, 30:27; 30:27, 29:28. This was a scrappy bout, with both boxers slipping to the canvas over the course of the boutShe’s through to the L16, and takes on USA’s Yoseline Perez in Monday’s Afternoon Session. Speaking to Boxing Scene her bout, Jenny said “I’m delighted that I came away with the win. The first day is always the hardest, getting the pre-fight nerves out of the way. So it’s great to get through it – I’m looking forward to the next one” and, she adds “Yeah, I’m confident in my training. We’ve had a really good few months, training at home and abroad. I’ve put in the work and I’m hoping to reap the rewards.”

Team Ireland Co-Captain 60kg Adam Hession exits the Championships with grace, following a storming, highly technical close-quarters bout against 18 year old Australian, Jacob Cassar. The decision was a 4-1 split: 28:29; 28:29, 27: 30, 28: 29, 29:28.

Team Ireland’s Kelyn Cassidy leaves the World Championships on the narrowest of margins, following a dreaded 3-2 split decision against Dominican Republic’s Noel Pacheco. This was a close bout throughout, with Kelyn’s most assured and effective work in the first and 3rd rounds. The judges scored the bout 30:27; 27:30; 30:27, 29:28; 28:29

Complete Evening Session results are available here

Day Two

Five Team Ireland boxers open their accounts on Friday – The Afternoon Session begins at 11am; the evening session gets underway at 6pm

50kg Louis Rooney, a 2024 European U22 champion, will first step between the ropes against Jordan’s Huthaifa Eshish. That’s Bout 5 of Ring B’s Evening Session

Double Olympian and multiple Commonwealth Games medalist, 57kg Michaela Walsh is a Last 32 contest against Saudi Arabia’s Hadeel Ashbour in Bout 5 of Ring A’s Evening Session.

Paris Olympian 65kg Grainne Walsh will face Slovakia’s Jessica Triebelova in Bout 4 of Ring A’s Afternoon Session.

75kg Gavin Rafferty is in a a 75kg weight category with 23 other boxers – and has been drawn against Azerbaijan’s Saidjamshid Jafarov. They meet in Bout 11 of Ring B’s Afternoon Session.

While and 90+kg Martin McDonagh opens his account at the Last 32 stage, taking on India’s Narender Narender in Bout 10 of Ring A’s Evening Session

Watch

World Boxing has partnered with Eurovision Sport to broadcast the Championship. Coverage, available HERE, begins at 11am on Thursday morning.

The championship website, where tickets are available for purchase, is HERE

Team Ireland

51kg Daina Moorehouse, of Enniskerry BC, Wicklow. Daina is from Bray, Co. Wicklow.

54kg Jenny Lehane of DCU Boxing Club, Dublin. Jenny is from Ashbourne, Co. Meath

57kg Michaela Walsh of Holy Family Golden Gloves BC Belfast.

60kg Zara Breslin of Tramore BC, Waterford.

65kg Grainne Walsh of St. Mary’s BC, Tallaght, Dublin. Grainne is from Tullamore, Co. Offaly

70kg Lisa O’Rourke of Castlerea BC, Co. Roscommon

75kg Aoife O’Rourke of Castlerea BC, Co. Roscommon. Team Co-Captain

50kg Louis Rooney of Star BC, Belfast

55kg Patsy Joyce of Olympic BC, Mullingar Co. Westmeath

60kg Adam Hession of Monivea BC, Co. Galway. Team Co-Captain

65kg Dean Clancy of Sean McDermott BC, Co. Leitrim. Dean is from Co. Sligo

70kg Matthew McCole of Illies Golden Glove BC Co. Donegal

75kg Gavin Rafferty of Dublin Docklands Boxing Club

80kg Kelyn Cassidy of Saviours Crystal BC, Co. Waterford

85kg Brian Kennedy of St. Brigid’s BC Edenderry Co. Offaly

90kg Jack Marley of Monkstown BC, Dublin

90+kg Martin McDonagh of Galway BC

Support Staff

• Team Manager: Jon Mackey, National Performance Director
• Head Coach: Zauri Antia
• Coaches: Damain Kennedy, Lynne McEnery, Eoin Pluck, James Doyle and JP Delaney
• Doctor: Jim Clover
• Lead Physio: Rob Tuomey
• Performance Analyst: Alan Swanton
• Logistics Support: Sean Crowley, High Performance Manager