WORLD CHAMPION! Olympic BC Mullingar fighter wins U19 title
The Donoghue brothers and Louise Joyce of Olympic BC Mullingar have won medals at the World U19 Championship finals in Budva, Montenegro.
John has won World U19 Championship gold this afternoon.
He was the 5-0 winner in the 70kg final against Bibarys Ashirbay of Kazakhstan, which was level going in to the last.
Judges scored the bout 28:29; 28:29; 28:29; 28:29.
John, of Olympic BC Mullingar, is a two-time world medalist having won World Junior gold in 2023, and is the reigning European champion at the weight.
His path to the podium included wins over Maksim Rybak of Belarus, Itzhak Avrutis of Israel and Artyom Stepanyan of Armenia.
John’s brother, Jason Donoghue, is a world bronze medalist, having contested a close semi-final against Pablo Souto Macias of Spain.
Jason has had an excellent tournament, with wins over Rostyslav Horodynskyi of Ukraine, Catalan Mustea of Moldova and Akzhurek Kalabay of Kazakhstan.
Louise Joyce adds world bronze to her benchmark tally of three European medals. She boxed her 48kg semi-final against tall, rangy Brazilian, Elissandra Santos, and the unanimous decision went to Santos. Louise’s path to the podium included wins over Algeria’s Bouthaina Bouslash and Ciana Nonhphala of the USA.
Louise, John and Jason are all of Olympic BC, Mullingar.
Two-time European medalist, 54kg Carley O’Herron of Rochfortbridge BC, contested her last 32 bout against two-time European silver medalist Zuzanna Golebiewska of Poland in a highly competitive bout, but it wasn’t to be.
Ireland will return with six medals from these championships.
Kalib Walshe returns from the Budva with lightweight silver, following a technical lightweight final against the Edgardo Nicolas Peralta of Argentina, the reigning Argentinian and South American champion.
The 5-0 decision went to Peralta on a scoreline of 30:27; 30:27; 30:27; 30:27; 30:27.
Kalib, of Wexford CBS, and the European silver medalist at the weight, has had an incredible tournament, with wins over Nearchos Petros Konstantinoudis of Greece, Artur Avetisyan of Armenia and Smail Sahraoui of Algeria.
Team co-captain 75kg Jason Whelan of Dublin Docklands comes home with bronze following wins over Turkmen boxer Toyly Bazarov, Italy’s Alessandro Bramerini and Nikolay Sabev of Bulgaria.
Clonmel BC’s Kaysie Joyce is 70kg bronze medalist with keynote wins over Vladyslava Nalyvaiko of Ukraine and England’s Shannon Warren.
Team Ireland’s campaign was marked by mature performances from all members, whether or not they achieved a podium finish.
Caoimhin Connolly of Twin Towns ABC in Donegal put in an agile performance and won both the second and third rounds on many scorecards in his 50kg Last 32 against Refugio Medrano Veloz of the USA, but was narrowly eliminated on a 3-2 split decision.
Kayleigh Byrne put everything in to her World U19 Championship quarter final, and bows out on a dreaded 3-2 split.
Kayleigh, of Gorey BC, boxed her 51kg QF against Nazokat Mardonova of Uzbekistan. Despite winning the second round 3-2, and the third 4-1, the decision went to Mardonova.
Kayleigh has wins over Patrycja Petriman of Poland and Shi-Chun Chou of Chinese Taipei, a 2026 European silver medal.
Lee Largey Snoddon didn’t medal on the narrowest possible margin; a 3-2 split. Lee boxed his 55kg quarter final against Azerbaijan’s Nihat Gasimov, winning a first round 4-1, but ultimately the judges awarded the decision to Gasimov.
Lee, of Immaculata BC, has had an incredible tournament, winning against David Mlacic of Australia, Moldova’s Damian Grisman and Riad Isufi of Kosovo.
Grace Bailey bowed out at quarter final stage following a tough quarter final against Harsika Harsika of India. She had claimed wins over Timea Fábryová of Slovakia and Dunja Vuksic of Serbia.
75kg Cassie Henderson, a three time European medalist of Phoenix BC, Armagh, made her debut at world level at last 16 stage against Daria Antipova of Russia. The decision went to Antipova in a physical contest.
Nine Team Ireland boxers are now ranked inside the world top fives in their weight categories:
• 48kg Louise Joyce, world number 3
• 51kg Kayleigh Byrne, world number 5
• 55kg Lee Largey Snoddon, world number 5
• 60kg Kalib Walshe, world number 2
• 65kg Grace Bailey, world number 5
• 65kg Jason Donoghue, world number 3
• 70kg Kaysie Joyce |World number 3
• 70kg John Donoghue, world number 1
• 75kg Jason Whelan, world number 3
TEAM IRELAND
48kg Louise Joyce, Olympic BC Mullingar
50kg Caoimhin Connolly, Twin Towns ABC, Donegal
51kg Kayleigh Byrne, Gorey ABC, Wexford
54kg Carley O’Herron, Rochfortbridge BC
55kg Lee Largey Snoddon, Immaculata BC, Antrim
60kg Kalib Walshe, Wexford CBS, Wexford
65kg Grace Bailey, Castlebar BC, Mayo
65kg Jason Donoghue, Olympic BC, Mullingar
70kg Kaysie Joyce, Clonmel BC, Tipperary
70kg John Donoghue, Olympic BC, Mullingar
75kg Cassie Henderson, Phoenix BC, Armagh
75kg Jason Whelan, Dublin Docklands BC, Dublin
SUPPORT STAFF
Team manager, Jennifer O’Sullivan Coffey, Sliabh Luachra BC, Kerry
Coach, Eoin Pluck, High Performance
Coach, Garry Kehoe of Marble City BC Kilkenny
Coach, Fergus Turner of Enniscorthy BC, Wexford
Coach, Aoife Hennigan of Swinford BC, Mayo.