HARRINGTON MOVES TO NO. 4 IN WORLD RANKINGS

27/06/2016IABA NewsBernard O'Neill

Kellie Harrington with Irish coaches Zaur Antia and Eddie Bolger

Irish light-welter Kellie Harrington has been included in the AIBA World Elite rankings for the first time at No. 4 in the World.

The Glasnevin BC ace is joint fourth in the table in the update rankings with Simona Sitar of Romania on 800 points after winning silver at the World Elite Championships in May.

China’s Yang Wenlu, who beat Harrington in the 64kg final in Central Asia, improves to No. 2.

Two-time Irish Olympian Katie Taylor remains No. 1 at lightweight, a position she has occupied for an unprecedented ten years. France’s Estelle Mosselly, who beat Taylor in Kazakhstan in May, is No. 2 in the 60kg class.

Ceire Smith is ranked joint No. 27 at flyweigh.

Six Irish boxers – Taylor (1), Michael Conlan (1), Michael O’Reilly (2), Joe Ward (3), Harrington (4) and Brendan Irvine (6) – are ranked in the top six in the world.

Click on women’s names for individual rankings and here for overall rankings.

AIBA rankings points are earned through performances at the Olympic Games, World and Continetal Championships and Continental multi-sport events.

Meanwhile, the Irish Elite men’s and women’s squad finished up a training camp with their French counterparts with a test match at Dublin’s National Stadium on Saturday.

Irish coach John Conlan described the training camp as world class in the countdown to August’s Olympics.

IRELAND FINISH IN 2ND SPOT IN MEDALS TABLE IN BAKU

27/06/2016IABA NewsBernard O'Neill

Team Ireland at Dublin Airport

Ireland finished in 2nd spot in the medals table at the 92-nation World Olympic qualifiers in Baku, Azerbaijan in a tremendous confidence booster ahead of August’s Olympics.

Click here here here and here for tournament stats.

Azerbaijan, Ireland, Great Britain and the Netherlands, in that order, commanded the top four positions.

Portlaoise BC middleweight Michael O’Reilly qualified for Rio and secured gold and Tipperary super-heavy Dean Gardiner took home silver from Baku.

O’Reilly won Saturday’s final – his fifth victory in the Azeri capital – on a walkover after Turkmenistan’s Arslan Achilov withdrew because of a facial cut he picked up in the semi-finals.

O’Reilly was denied an Olympic place by a controversial decision at the World Championships in Doha, Qatar last year.

He said: “It was in the back of my mind (Doha), but I knew this was my last chance and I had to put everything on the line. I’ve achieved what I set out to achieve in Baku.

“I would like to thank my wife and family, the Irish Athletic Boxing Association and coaches Zaur Antia and Eddie Bolger, my club and club coach Pat Ryan for their belief in me.”

O’Reilly earned three 30-27 decisions in Baku and one 29-28 verdict and won eleven of the twelve rounds he competed in in his four fights.

IABA President Pat Ryan with Michael O’Reilly and Dean Gardiner

Eight Irish boxers – O’Reilly, Katie Taylor, Paddy Barnes, Brendan Irvine, Michael Conlan, David Oliver Joyce, Steven Donnelly and Joe Ward have now qualified for August’s Olympics.

Zaur Antia and Eddie Bolger were working Ireland’s corner in Baku.

Meanwhile, Mayo light-welter Ray Moylette will be aiming to improve that total to nine at the final Olympic qualifier which begins in Vargas, Venezuela on July 3.

Ostensibly a World Series of Boxing versus AIBA Pro boxing tournament, the Latin American qualifiers are also open to pro boxers, although it is unclear how man pros, if any, have registered.

Moylette, an ex European Elite and World Youth champion, will book a Rio ticket if he finishes in the top three in Vargas.

The finalists qualify automatically in the 64kg class and the beaten semi-finalists box off for third place.

TEAM IRELAND ARRIVE HOME FROM OLYMPIC QUALIFIERS

26/06/2016IABA NewsBernard O'Neill

Team Ireland at Dublin Airport this morning

Team Ireland arrived home from the Olympic qualifiers in Baku, Azerbaijan this morning via Dublin Airport.

Michael O’Reilly and Dean Gardiner won gold and silver at the tournament, with O’Reilly also claiming a middleweight berth at the 2016 Olympic Games.

“I achieved what I set out to achieve in Baku, said O’Reilly, the No. 1 seed in the 75kg class at the 92-nation tournament.

“I would like to thank my wife and family, the Irish Athletic Boxing Association and coaches Zaur and Eddie, my club and club coach Pat Ryan for their belief in me,” said the AIBA World No. 2 ranked middleweight.

The Azeri capital is a happy hunting ground for World Elite bronze medallist O’Reilly as he won European Games gold in Baku last year.

Gardiner lost out on a narrow unanimous decision to Italy’s Guido Vianello for a Rio place in Saturday’s super-heavy final.

Darren O’Neill and Dean Walsh lined out for Ireland at heavyweight and light-welterweight at the penultimate Olympic qualifiers. Zuar Antia and Eddie Bolger were working Ireland’s corner.

“The Irish Athletic Boxing Association commends and congratulates our boxers, coaches and staff for another magnificent tournament at the Rio 2016 qualifiers against some of the best nations in the world,” said Pat Ryan, President of the IABA, at today’s homecoming.

Please scroll down for pictures.

Irish Squad

64kg (Light-welter) Dean Walsh (St Josephs/St Ibars)

75kg (Middleweight) Michael O’Reilly (Portlaoise) (Qualified for Rio 2016 and Gold)

91kg (Heavyweight) Darren O’Neill (Paulstown)

91kg + (Super-heavy) Dean Gardiner (Clonmel) (Silver).

Team manager Joe Hennigan

Coaches: Zaur Antia and Eddie Bolger

Performance Analyst Alan Swanton

Sports Psychologist: Gerry Hussey

IABA President Pat Ryan with Michael O’Reilly and Dean Gardiner

IABA president Pat Ryan with head coach Zaur Antia

Michael O’Reilly with family and friends

Irish head coach Zaur Antia and Michael O’Reilly and Dean Gardiner

MEDIA INVITE – TWO IRISH SQUADS DUE HOME ON SUNDAY

25/06/2016IABA NewsBernard O'Neill

Two Irish teams are scheduled to arrive home from international competition this Sunday, June 26th, via Dublin Airport.

The Irish Elite squad is due in at 9.50am on Sunday morning from the World Olympic qualifiers in Baku, Azerbaijan – Flight TK 1975 via Istanbul (Terminal 1).

Michael O’Reilly claimed gold and a ticket for the Rio Olympics in Baku and Dean Gardiner won silver.

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The Irish Junior side is due in at 7.30pm on Sunday evening from the European Junior Championships in Hungary via Budapest – Flight T2B (BUD) (Terminal 1)

Edward Donovan (gold), Terry Donoghue (silver), Jack Conroy (silver) and Martin McDonagh (bronze) finished in podium positions Hungary.

All media are invited to attend Sunday’s homecomings.

IRELAND CLAIM ONE GOLD, TWO SILVER AND BRONZE AT EURO JUNIORS

25/06/2016IABA NewsBernard O'Neill

Irish finalists with coaches Billy McClean and Tony Davis today

Edward Donovan claimed a European Junior title in Kaposvar, Hungary.

But Terry Donoghue and Jack Conroy had to settle for silver despite massive performances on the final day of the 34-nation tournament.

Donovan earned a unanimous decision over tricky Moldovan southpaw Ursa Constantin.

With both boxers of almost equal height and reach and using their jabs as triggering mechanisms, it was always going to come down to who delivered the more solid backhands.

And while Constantin had his moments, the Limerick featherweight from the Our Lady of Lourdes (OLOL) BC consistently beat his man to the punch throughout the three rounds to claim a European 57kg title for the Treaty City and cap an outstanding tournament.

Earlier today, Donoghue persistently took the fight to rangy English southpaw Ivan Price and found the target with some big shots throughout three closely contested rounds.

The St Michael’s Athy man worked hard to get inside Price’s longer reach and when he did he delivered his punches, but the decision went to the blue corner.

Conroy left absolutely everything in the ring against Russia’s Ivan Stupin in a brave hearted display from the Irish light-welter, but the Russian got the verdict at the end of three very competitive frames.

Irish coach Billy McClean commended the work of his fellow coaches Philip Keogh and Tony Davis and Team Manager Pater Brady and hailed the performances of Ireland’s remarkable young squad.

McClean also pointed out that Ireland boxed the powerful Russian Federation eight times in Hungary and lost four of the eight bouts on split decisions.

Donovan (gold), Donoghue (silver), Conroy (silver) and Martin McDonagh (bronze) finished in podium positions in Hungary.

iaba.ie estimates that the haul will see Ireland finish in the top five, possibly top four, in the medals table.

Team Ireland are due to arrive home at 7.30pm on Sunday evening via Dublin Airport via Budapest – Flight T2B (BUD) (Terminal 1)

European Junior Championships Kaposvar, Hungary

June 19th

Prelims

57kg Edward Donovan (Ireland) beat Deievdas Bogbanovicus (Lithuania) 3-0

63kg Pierce O’Leary (Ireland) beat Genuri Jgerenai (Georgia) TKO1

75kg Adam Dempsey (Ireland) beat Fillip Knor (Czech Republic) 2-1

June 20th

Last 16

46kg Terry Donoghue (Ireland) beat Aleks Karamani (Serbia) 3-0

48kg Brandon McCarthy (Ireland) beat Jean Christi (Romania) 3-0

54Kg Barry McReynolds (Ireland) lost to Anzor Gapuev (Russia) 1-2

57kg Edward Donovan (Ireland) beat Terteryan Semastian (Denmark) 3-0

60kg Michael Delaney (Ireland) lost to Pavel Chazov (Russia) 1-2

63kg Pierce O’Leary (Ireland) lost to Oleg Zharkov (Russia) 1-2

June 21st

(Last 16)

50kg Callum Walsh (Ireland) lost to Tegor Ade (Ukraine) 1-2

52kg Martin McDonagh (Ireland) beat Christ Esabe (France) 3-0

66kg Jack Conroy (Ireland) beat Aliaksandr Filipovich (Belarus) 3-0

70kg Kane Tucker (Ireland) beat Dmitris Christos (Cyprus) TKO2

75kg Adam Dempsey (Ireland) beat Edmunds Lindermanis (Latvia) 2-1

80kg Michael Walsh (Ireland) lost to Lewis Johnston (Scotland) 0-3

80kg+ Zenja Jelisejenkovs (Ireland) lost to Pavlo Mykolaichuk (Ukraine) RET1

June 22nd

Q/Finals

46kg Terry Donoghue (Ireland) beat Richard Bernath (Hungary) 2-1

48kg Brandon McCarthy (Ireland) lost to Magomed Shamsaev (Russia) 1-2

52kg Martin McDonagh (Ireland) beat Norbert Berecz (Hungary) 3-0

57kg Edward Donovan (Ireland) beat Milan Orsos (Hungary) 3-0

66kg Jack Conroy (Ireland) beat Turan Sadikov (Azerbaijan) 3-0

0kg Kane Tucker (Ireland) lost to Edgard Tcambov (Russia) 0-3

75kg Adam Dempsey (Ireland) lost to Danil Teterev (Russia) 0-3

June 24th

S/Finals

46kg Terry Donoghue (Ireland) beat Artur Shakhpazyan (Armenia) 3-0

52kg Martin McDonagh (Ireland) lost to Ilia Popov (Russia) 0-3

57kg Edward Donovan (Ireland) beat Jeremy Dupetitmagneux (France) 2-1

66kg Jack Conroy (Ireland) beat Zuarab Menabaushvili (Georgia) 2-1

June 25th

Finals

46kg Terry Donoghue (Ireland) lost to Ivan Price (England) 0-3

57kg Edward Donovan (Ireland) beat Ursa Constantin (Moldova) 3-0

66kg Jack Conroy (Ireland) lost to Ivan Stupin (Russia) 0-3

Irish squad

46kg Terry Donoghue (St Michaels Athy) (Silver)
48kg Brandon McCarthy (St Michaels Athy)
50kg Callum Walsh (Riverstown)
52kg Martin McDonagh (Glen) (Bronze)
54kg Barry McReynolds (Holy Trinity)
57kg Edward Donovan (OLOL) (Gold)
60kg Michael Delaney (Olympic)
63kg Pierce O’Leary (Dublin Docklands)
66kg Jack Conroy (Mullingar Elite) (Silver)
70kg Kane Tuker (Holy Trinity)
75kg Adam Dempsey (Achill)
80kg Michael Walsh (Holy Family D)
80+kg Zenja Jelisejenkovs (Castlebar)

Team manager: Peter Brady (Holy Trinity)

Coaches: Billy McClean, Philip Keogh, Tony Davis

R&J: Paul McMahon