Olympic boxers excel in Turkey

Olympic Boxing Club, Mullingar had three boxers representing Ireland at the European Schools Championship in Turkey.

At 57kg, team captain John Donoghue won his last 32 bout with a first round stoppage against Israel. John lost in the last 16 bout to Ukraine on a spilt decision (3-2 to Ukraine). The Ukrainian boxer went on to win the gold medal and was awarded best boxer of the tournament.

John won the first and third rounds on the judges’ score cards, but got a warning in the second for holding, which was a bit on the soft side. Unfortunately, the fight finished a draw and three of the judges awarded Ukraine the win, with two opting for John.

John was very unlucky but no doubt he will be back for bigger things ahead.

At 36kg, Louise Joyce got a bye to semi-final, where she beat a very tall aggressive boxer from Turkey 5-0. Louise controlled all three rounds with her feints and movement.

In the final, Louise met a very tall, strong, aggressive English boxer who was a step too far for her. But at her age, she will be eligible for the European Schools Championships again next year.

Louise lost a very close 3-2 spilt decision to England boxer, though her movement and boxing was brilliant. It just wasn’t to be.

At 48kg, Christian Doyle won four fights to capture the gold medal. In the last 16 round, Christian beat a very skilful boxer from Italy 5-0. In the quarter-finals, he beat Urkaine 3-2 after a very close fight against an aggressive boxer. However, Christian had the skill to overcome his opponent.

In the semi-finals, he beat a Slovakian boxer with ease (5-0).

In the final, Christian came up against the much-fancied favourite from England. He started a bit slow with his opponent giving him a standing eight count and winning the first round.

Christian had it all to do, but produced a memorable performance in next two rounds to win them 5-0, winning him the gold medal on a score of 5-0.