SEVEN ENTER MOYLETTE’S WEIGHT FOR OLYMPIC QUALIFIERS (UPDATED)

02/07/2016IABA NewsBernard O'Neill

Ray Moylette

Seven boxers have entered in Ray Moylette’s light-welter class for the final qualifier for Rio 2016 in Vargas, Venezuela.

Moylette will meet Armenia’s Hovhannes Backrov in the quarter-finals on Monday.

Click here for entries.

The top three qualify for Rio in Moylette’s weight. Two of the fighters in his 64kg class, Carlos Portillo and Italy’s Massimiliano Ballisai, are professional boxers.

Undefeated Portillo is unbeaten in 18 outings and is the current Paraguayan super-lightweight champion.

Pro boxers are eligible for Vargas after a recent International Boxing Association Congress meeting deleted rule 13 (J) – following a landslide vote from National delegations, including Ireland, to dump 13 (J) – which banned pro fighters from registering with their National Federations from its Constitution.

79 boxers across the ten weights weighed-in this morning in Vargas.

Former WBO World middleweight champion Hassan N’Jikam has entered at light-heavy.

Bouts in Vargas will be contested over three, three minute rounds.

Irish coach Eddie Bolger and Moylette’s club (St Anne’s BC, Mayo) coach Martin Brennan will be working Ireland’s comer in Latin America.

Moylette, the only Irish boxer eligible for Vargas, qualified through AIBA Pro Boxing. Three bouts will be decided tomorrow on Day 1 of the tournament. The light-welters are in action Monday.

Ireland’s Michael Gallagher is one of 30 referees and judges at the tournament.

Final Olympic Qualifiers Vargas, Venezuela

64kg

July 4th

Q/Finals

Ray Moylette (Ireland) v Hovhannes Backrov (Armenia)

——-

Ray Moylette (Ireland)

Carlos Aquino (Argentina)

Hovhannes Backrov (Armenia)

Massimiliano Ballisai (Italy)

Carlos Portillo (Paraguay)

Thulasi Tharumalingam (Qatar)

Volodymyr Matviichuk (Ukraine)

(B)

IRELAND VERSUS RUSSIA TEST MATCH PICTURES

02/07/2016IABA NewsBernard O'Neill

Six of Ireland's Olympic heroes proudly display their medals at the National Stadium tonight

Six of Ireland’s Olympic heroes proudly display their Olympic medals at the National Stadium tonight

World boxing powerhouses Ireland and Russia met at the National Stadium in Dublin tonight in a test match.

Most of Ireland’s Rio Olympians and Irish internationals were between the ropes versus the visitors.

Rio bound Katie Taylor, Paddy Barnes, Brendan Irvine, Michael Conlan, David Oliver Joyce, Steven Donnelly, Michael O’Reilly and Joe Ward were in action at and attended this evening’s meeting.

Welcoming the Russian squad to the home of Irish boxing, IABA President Pat Ryan wished our boxers and Russia the very best of luck at the Rio Olympics which begin on August 5th.

John Treacy, CEO of the Irish Sports Council, attended tonight’s match along with distinguished guests.

Ireland and Russia will train in Dublin from this weekend on before going their separate ways later this month as the countdown to the 31st Olympiad begins in earnest.

Please scroll down for images from tonight’s event. No scores are kept in test matches.

Pictures courtesy of Ed Scannell.

Rio Olympic Team with IABA President, Pat Ryan and John Treacy. Sport Ireland

IABA Secretary, Al Morris

Paddy Barnes, Irish Flag Bearer in Rio Olympics

IABA President, Pat Ryan

World Silver Medallist, Kellie Harrington with IABA President

Zaur Antia and Jimmy Halpin

Home of Champions

Paddy Barnes Addressing Supporters in National Stadium

Brendan Irvine

John Treacy Congratulates Katie Taylor

CEO Fergal Carruth and IABA President, Pat Ryan

Russian Embassy Guests

Some of Ireland’s Olympic Medallists

Michael Carruth and Hugh Russell

Russian Coaching Team

Zaur Antia and John Conlan

Paddy Barnes with Fans

Coaching Teams

Boxers Line up for National Anthems

Fergal Carruth and Anna Moore

Paddy Osborne and Gerry Storey

Irish Team Line up for National Anthems

OCI CONGRATULATE MICHAEL O’REILLY

01/07/2016IABA NewsBernard O'Neill

Michael O’Reilly (blue) in action

Olympic Council of Ireland and IABA Statement

The Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI) and the Irish Athletic Boxing Association (IABA) is today pleased to announce that Michael O’Reilly has been chosen to represent Team Ireland at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

The 2015 European Games champion, from County Tipperary and coached by IABA President Pat Ryan at the Portlaoise BC, becomes the eighth boxer competing for Team Ireland at Rio 2016, joining Paddy Barnes, Michael Conlan, Steven Donnelly, Brendan Irvine, David Oliver Joyce, Katie Taylor and Joe Ward.

O’Reilly qualified for August’s Olympics at the recent World Olympic qualifiers in Baku, Azerbaijan after winning middleweight gold.

Dermot Henihan, the Secretary General of the OCI, said:

“Congratulations to Michael and the coaches and performance staff at the Irish Athletic Boxing Association for their continued hard work, dedication and support for all athletes competing at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. It’s very exciting, this is Team Ireland’s largest ever boxing team at the Olympic Games since pre-qualifying was introduced before Barcelona 1992.”

Team Ireland hope to add another boxer when Ray Moylette, the light-welterweight from County Mayo, competes in the final Rio 2016 qualifier in Vargas, Venezuela. The weigh-in and draw will be held on Saturday 2 July with competition beginning on Sunday 3 July at 15:00 local time.

Irish coach Eddie Bolger and club (St Anne’s BC) Martin Brennan will be working Moylette’s corner in Vargas.

More formal selections will be finalised in the middle of part of July.

Today’s announcement brings the total number of selected athletes for Rio 2016 to 55 from 11 sports.

This is the sixth announcement of selected athletes:

Irish Athletic Boxing Association
Michael O’Reilly – Men’s Middleweight

ELITE SCHOOLBOY TRAINING

30/06/2016IABA NewsBernard O'Neill

gloves

Elite Schoolboys Squad Training will begin this Sunday, from 11am – 3:30pm, for all the winners of the Junior Cadets at 38.5KG and upwards. All boxers are asked to attend. These sessions will continue every Sunday up to the departure for the European Schoolboys Championship.

Training takes place in the High Performance Gym at the National Boxing Stadium. Boxers are asked to be there for a 10:45am check weigh-in.

Two sessions will take place on the day and each boxer will be given their dinner between sessions.

Boxers are asked to have full training gear. This includes good quality 16oz sparring gloves, any size of bag gloves, skipping rope, headguards, groinguards, wraps, gumshields, water for two sessions and a change of clothes for the second session.

Any boxers who are unable to attend trainings, should contact the Schoolboys Coordinator Paddy Gallagher on 087-6286269 in advance.

MOYLETTE GEARS UP FOR LATIN AMERICA SHOWDOWN

30/06/2016IABA NewsBernard O'Neill

Ray Moylette and Joe Ward after both won European Elite titles in 2011

Ray Moylette and team arrived in Vargas, Venezuela last night ahead of the last throw of the Rio dice for Irish and international boxing.

The Mayo light-welter will compete in the final Olympic qualifier for August’s Olympics in Vargas.

The weigh-in and draw will be held on Saturday. Boxing begins on Sunday at 3pm local time.

The tournament is billed as an AIBA Pro Boxing (APB) versus World Series of Boxing (WSB) clash.

However, it is also, historically, open to pro boxers.The door to the Olympics was opened to pro boxers following the recent change in the AIBA statutes, as ratified at its Extraordinary Congress on 1 June, allowing all professional boxers to participate in all competitions, including the forthcoming Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

AIBA today announced a partnership with IMG, the global leader in sports, media and events, for the sale and distribution of worldwide broadcast rights of the Venezuelan qualifiers.

Bouts will be contested over three, three minute rounds in Vargas. Ex AIBA World Youth champion Moylette will book a Rio ticket if he finishes in the top three in the 64kg class. The finalists qualify automatically and the beaten semi-finalist box-off for the third place.

So far, Katie Taylor, Paddy Barnes, Brendan Irvine, Michael Conlan, David Oliver Joyce, Steven Donnelly, Michael O’Reilly and Joe Ward have qualified for Rio.

Irish coach Eddie Bolger and Martin Brennan, Moylette’s club coach at the St Anne’s BC, will be working Ireland’s corner in Vargas.

Twenty six Olympic places are up for grabs at the end of the line for a qualification process which began in 2014.

“It’s the last qualifier and it will be tough, but it’s an exciting opportunity for Ray with good potential,” said Bolger.

(B)