Irish boxing has claimed 21 medals at the World Elite Men’s and Women’s Championships.
The breakdown is 7 gold, 4 silver and 10 bronze since Munich 1982 where Tommy Corr finished in our first podium position.
Irish female boxing is by far the most prolific with six gold, silver and bronze secured since the inaugural World Women’s Elites in Scranton, USA in 2001.
Katie Taylor is responsible for five of those gold medals and bronze in a decade long dominance of the lightweight class which began in New Delhi in 2006.
Taylor won her first gold that year, twelve months after losing to North Korea’s Hang Hui in Russia in 2005 in her first World outing.
Taylor’s fellow Olympic champion Michael Carruth took home bronze from Moscow 1989.
Head coach Zaur Antia and Michael Conlan at 2015 Worlds in Qatar
Elsewhere, Kellie Harrington bagged gold and silver at light and light-welter and is Ireland’s only two-weight world medalist, although John Joe Nevin won successive bronze medals in the bantam limits of 54kg and 56kg in Milan and Baku in 2009 and 2011.
The Irish men’s side of 2015 finished 4th in the medals table in Doha, Ireland’s highest finish, courtesy of gold for Michael Conlan, silver for Joe Ward and bronze for Michael O’Reilly on the Persian Gulf.
Ward is a three-time World medalist. His bronze medal win in 2013 saw the Westmeath light-heavy become the first international boxer to win World Junior, World Youth and World Senior medals as a teenager.
Belfast bantamweight Conlan became the first Irish male boxer – he’s also the last – to claim World Elite gold in 2015 while Jason Quigley was the first Irish male boxer to reach a World Elite final in 2013 in Kazakhstan, the Donegal middleweight taking home silver from Central Asia.
Courtesy of Taylor and Harrington, the women’s lightweight division is by far Ireland’s most successful with six gold and bronze maintaining Ireland’s grip on the 60kg title.
The World Men’s Elites is a relatively young tournament, as opposed to boxing at the Olympics which began in 1904 and the European Elites in 1925.
Irish female lies in 8th position in the all-time World Elite medals table and Irish male boxing commands joint 23rd place with Poland since the inaugural World Elites in Havana in 1974.
IRELAND AT WORLD ELITE MEN’S AND WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIPS
1982 Munich, West Germany
71kg Tommy Corr Bronze
1989 Moscow Russia
64kg Michael Carruth Bronze
1993 Tampere, Finland
51kg Damaen Kelly Bronze
1997 Budapest, Hungary
81kg Stephen Kirk Bronze
2001 Belfast
69kg James Moore Bronze
2006 New Delhi, India
60kg Katie Taylor Gold
2008 Ningbo, China
60kg Katie Taylor Gold
2009 Milan, Italy
54kg John Joe Nevin Bronze
2012 Bridgetown,Barbados
60kg Katie Taylor Gold
2011 Baku, Azerbaijan
56kg John Joe Nevin Bronze
2012 Qinhuangdao, China
60kg Katie Taylor Gold
2013 Almaty, Kazakhstan
75kg Jason Quigley Silver
81kg Joe Ward Bronze
2014 Jeju Island, South Korea
60kg Katie Taylor Gold
2015 Doha, Qatar
56kg Michael Conlan Gold
81kg Joe Ward Silver
75kg Michael O’Reilly Bronze
2016 Almaty, Kazakhstan
64kg Kellie Harrington Silver
60kg Katie Taylor Bronze
2017 Hamburg, Germany
81kg Joe Ward Silver
2018 New Delhi, India
60kg Kellie Harrington Gold
Vitaly Dunaystsev has hung up his gloves.
The Russian light-welter told the Tass News Agency that he was retiring aged 27 to take up other roles in the sport.
A bronze medallist at Rio 2016, Dunaystsev, who has also won World and European gold, has a chequered record against former Irish Elite champions Sean McComb, Wayne Kelly and Dean Walsh.
McComb recorded two wins over the Russian stand out in Kharkiv and Dublin’s National Stadium in 2017 but Kelly and Walsh dropped tight points decisions to the former World No.1 in 2016 and 2014.
Dunaystsev won 42 of his 53 bouts in the amateur ranks.
Please click on names for Irish draw sheets for the European Olympic qualifiers in London.
The tournament was postponed on March 16 because of the Covid-19 pandemic and will resume where it stopped at a date to be confirmed, according to the IOC.
Irish captain Brendan Irvine qualified for Tokyo 2021 in the English capital.
Nine other Irish boxers will still be in play when the qualifiers recommence.
The IOC postponed the Olympic Games from July/August this year to July/August 2021.
(Dates on below draw sheets are from before the tournament was postponed)
Brendan Irvine (qualified)
European Olympic Qualifiers
Copperbox Arena London March
Last 16
(Postponed)
57kg Michaela Walsh (Ireland) v Mona Mestian (France)
60kg Kellie Harrington (Ireland) v Aneta Rygielska (Poland)
63kg George Bates (Ireland) v Javid Chalabiyev (Azerbaijan)
75kg Aoife O’Rourke (Ireland) v Viktoriya Kebikava (Belarus)
81kg Emmet Brennan (Ireland) v Uke Smajli (Switzerland)
91kg Kiril Afanasev (Ireland) V Emanual Reyes (Spain)
69kg Aidan Walsh (Ireland) v Wahid Hambli (France)
75kg Michael Nevin (Ireland) v Arman Darchinyan (Armenia)
91kg+ Dean Gardiner (Ireland) v Petar Belberov (Bulgaria)
Q/Final
(Postponed)
52kg Brendan Irvine (Ireland) v Gabriel Escobar (Spain)
Results
March 16
Last 32
69kg Aidan Walsh (Ireland) beat Pavel Kamanin (Estonia) 5-0
75kg Michael Nevin (Ireland) beat Max Van Der Pas (Netherlands) 4-1
Last 16
52kg Brendan Irvine (Ireland) beat Istavan Szaka (Hungary) 5-0
51kg Carly McNaul (Ireland) lost Charley Davison (Team Great Britain) 0-5
57kg Kurt Walker (Ireland) lost to Hamsat Shadolov (Germany) 0-5
March 15
Last 32
63kg George Bates (Ireland) beat Leon Dominguez (Spain) RSCI1
81kg Emmet Brennan (Ireland) beat Radenko Tomic (Bosnia & Herzegovina) RSC2
91kg Kiril Afanasev (Ireland) beat Begadze Nikoloz (Georgia) 4-1
Last 16
69kg Christina Desmond (Ireland) lost to Angela Carina (Italy) 0-5
Irish squad
(Olympic qualification standards in brackets)
Male
52kg Brendan Irvine (St Paul’s, Antrim) Cpt (Top 8) (Qualified)
57kg Kurt Walker (Canal, Antrim) (Top 8)
63kg George Bates (St Mary’s, Dublin) (Top 8)
69kg Aidan Walsh (Monkstown, Antrim) (Top 6)
75kg Michael Nevin (Portlaoise, Laois) (Top 6)
81kg Emmet Brennan (Dublin Docklands) (Top 6)
91kg Kiril Afanasev (Smithfield, Dublin) (Top 4)
91+kg Dean Gardiner (Clonmel, Tipperary) (Top 4)
Female
51kg Carly McNaul (Ormeau Road, Belfast) (Top 6)
57kg Michaela Walsh (Monkstown, Antrim) (Top 6)
60kg Kellie Harrington (St Mary’s, Dublin) (Top 6)
69kg Christina Desmond (Fr Horgan’s, Cork, Garda BC) (Top 5)
75kg Aoife O’Rourke (Castlerea, Roscommon) (Top 4)
High-Performance Director: Bernard Dunne
Coaches: Zaur Antia, John Conlan, Dmitry Dimitruk
The IABA extends its deep sympathies to the Lynch family following the death of Dr John Lynch.
The late Mr Lynch was the Chairman of the IABA Board of Directors and a former Executive Chairman of CIE.
A big servant and supporter of Irish boxing, he was a well-known figure in Irish business and public service and led several State organisations.
These include Bord Gáis Éireann in the 1980s and FÁS in 1990.
May he rest in peace.